FateStay Hijacked
by gibbousmoons
Summary: The corruption of the grail came from a different source, a source who's binding was weakened by the ending of the previous Grail War. Rally your heroes, the King of Evil walks the world once more. Rated M for Shinji, worms, and graphic violence. Note: contains no moe Illya. Contains very little moe at all, actually.
1. Chapter 1

This is the alt site version of Fate /Stay Hijacked, which is primarily hosted on SpaceBattles Forums. I do not own the source material, a fact I am ever sorrowful about. If I did own Type Moon, False Assassin would have been replaced with Sherlock Holmes, just to spice things up.

Chapters will be poster on once I've completed the day on SpaceBattles.

_Once there was an evil man, and the world trembled beneath is feet._

XIXI

Once there was a desert people, with dark skin and red hair, that had lived in the plains of Hyrule before they turned to desert. They had a custom, they crowned the sole male child of the tribe as king, and tasked him with protecting their people from harm. He was, unlike the other Gerudo, a mage, and a powerful one at that, so everyone agreed it was a good idea. It was before the time of legends, so no I don't have to explain anything- it happened because it was appropriate!

When the plains turned to deserts they tried to live as they had, but crops withered and died, and monsters sprang from the earth. Many other tribes died, but not the Gerudo. They survived for a time, trading with caravans. Selling weapons and hiring out hands to hold them. They thrived, and praised their king for his wisdom.

But the sun grew hotter day by day, and the monsters grew more numerous, and the caravans came less and less often. The king knew he could not save his people, and so he swallowed his pride and went to _beg_ the king of all Hyrule for aid.

"I have considered your case." The white haired man softly spoke from his throne. "And of all the decisions I have made today, this is the one I have the most regret over. I am sorry, but I cannot allow the Gerudo to emigrate into the lands of Hyrule proper, I simply have nowhere to put you."

Ganondorf went back to his people, and told the Gerudo no help would be coming from the King.

The Gerudo died out in less than ten years, leaving only a small remnant surviving in the hot desert.

One day, when the moon was low and the sun was high in the Hylian sky, Ganondorf walked to Castle Hyrule. By the end of that day…

There was one less high King.

XIXI

That was not Ganondorf's only reign as King of Evil. He was killed many times, sealed many times, and many times he reigned triumphant. The same cycle, over and over and over. The land changed, the people changed, but there was always Ganondorf, always a princess, always a Hero.

And all the while, the Triforce burned bright on three hands, until one time, when Power was sealed so tightly it couldn't break free… Into a small bronze grail.

He stays bound nearly forever, through the Age of Legends and well into modern times, until some fool _damaged_ his prison. He would have stayed bound, for his long binding had lulled him to slumber, but he was woken by a foolish mage summoning a Caster, any Caster.

Ganondorf, King of Evil, walks the world again.

XIXI

A thin voice sliced through the dark room. The room was in the basement of an apartment complex, so he had to draw the summoning lines quickly. The summoner couldn't risk being interrupted by the cleaners. Filthy servants never knew their place, not like his Servant, soon to be his.

All his.

He wasn't the most powerful magus, but that wouldn't matter soon. All he had to do was stay hidden until most of the others were dead, perhaps half, then have his Servant ambush the others one by one. They'd be fatigued, and would have exhausted at least some of their reserves of od. Every little bit would help, since he'd _heard_ of what the Eisenbern's were doing to win.

The lines of salt and blood on the floor began to glow red, matching the control runes on the back of his hand. He didn't recognize the unfamiliar designs, but that was only to be expected.

He finished his chant, waiting breathless as the summoning scheme on the dusty concrete floor glared brighter and brighter, culminating in a burst of crimson light that disappeared in an instant.

He waited, and gave a savage grin as he heard his Servant's ragged breathing. "I am your master Medea! Welcome to the fifth Holy Grail War." He felt along the wall for the light switch, chattering at his Servant. "Don't worry about strategy, I have one all planned out."

"Don't bother with a light." A deep voice ground out from the dark room, and flickering fire began to pool around the figure in the circle. "I can make my own."

"Oh good, you may refer to me as Master, but my name is… Wait, you aren't Med- AAAGH!"

The summoner, name now irrelevant, fell to the floor. In the morning the laundry lady would find the body of the man from room 108, head crushed, slumped near the light switch. The only door was locked from the inside.

Enter the Bandit King.

XIXI

Gilgamesh woke from a long night's sleep with a woman, not his darling Saber unfortunately, wrapped around him, feeling better than he had in years. Last night he'd thought clearly for the first time since he'd had that miserable Grail spilt its mud on him.

Why, he tried to remind himself, had that seemed like a good thing? He almost shuddered as he remembered what he'd done before, what he'd almost done last night. There was no need for _that_.

He was the King of Heroes! No woman was beyond the reach of his sparkling personality. His charismatic grace astounded the gods themselves, he had not need to, well.

The past was the past, and even he couldn't change it. All he could do was look forward at the new day, and what a new day it was! He felt like himself again, not some mish-mash Servant forced into a role, he felt like he was _Gilgamesh_ and the world was his to with as he willed, full of people the gods played with like toys.

Like Kyoko. He'd seen her last night, before his head cleared, on the side of the road. She'd failed her entrance exams and her landlord had evicted her, since he only took students.

He'd invited her back to his apartment, and had been about to-

He'd remembered. He'd remembered what he'd learned when Enkidu died, his humanity. To struggle beyond your means, to fight the gods and their ordained fate.

Loyalty.

Enkidu had been beside him through everything, and even as he died he had not forsaken his King.

How could he have dishonored such a noble man's memory!

Kyoko sat up, the bedsheet falling away to reveal she hadn't even taken off her clothes before going to bed, and yawned.

Gilgamesh smiled at the sight. He might not be able to make up for the past, but he remembered what he was now, human. He'd been so much like the gods he hated. He could change though, that was human.

"I don't know if you remember Kyoko, but my name's Gil. I hope you slept well, you were very tired." He slid out of bed and pulled on his robe. "I know you're having trouble with money right now, so how about we go and grab a lottery ticket before breakfast? I've been told I have excellent luck."

XIXI

_A young warlord, in the prime of his life. His schemes are daring, the risks he takes are monumental. He walks into the very stronghold of the King he will kill, and explains his plan in detail, before carrying it out. He kills the previous ruler with his bare hands and force of personality, vibrant and full of motion. _

_He defies fate itself on two fronts, snatching his greatest weapon from the treasure room it rests in. A hero breaks what will become the laws of magecraft with a musical instrument, traveling through time itself to outflank the young tyrant. _

_He barely succeeds. _

_The Great King of Darkness and shadow kneels humbly before his executioners, and barely moves, save to expel his final breath, as the Execution Sword of the sages plunges deep into his flank. Their surprise when he kills the sage to land the blow was like the sweetest nectar. Their horror at the atrocities he commits with it made the unending pain of the wound bearable. _

_He is stopped, though not until he again drags Hyrule into shadows. Even then, run through with a holy blade and pierced with the Arrows of Light, it was no easy victory. _

_The Victor is old. He won. He slew the heroes, took from them their thirds of the Triforce (a feat that had remained beyond the greatest of mages and wise men), and made his wish- vengeance. His victory was taken from him by a sore loser. _

_The King of Hyrule drowned the land beneath the waves. _

_The Tactician is wiser than he was. He knows he will never be free of the cycle, never live a life where there is no hero to oppose him. That he might not be the villain never crosses his mind. He knows he is Din's favored piece, the destruction that tests the world, and he relishes his role. _

_His castles grow more ominous, his minions more overtly evil, and he makes a point of becoming the very image of Evil. He hunts down the first of the dragons, their molten steel breath reminding him of the desert of his youth. He polishes his swordcraft, mastering all aspects of bladed weapons, no matter how impractical they are. He hardens his skin until arrows shatter on his chest and maces dent themselves on his skull. _

_He is, in truth, a heroic spirit of magnificent caliber. _

Excerpt from "The End of the Time Before", by the Sage of Earth, Property of Rin Tohsaka.

XIXI

Shirou and Sakura waited by the side of the road to let the procession of ambulances and police cars pass. "What do you think happened senpai?"

Shirou shook his head in response. "I don't know, Sakura. I hope nobody was hurt."

The pair continued without a second thought.

XIXI

"Hey Shirou! Did you hear about the accident at the cinema this morning? It was crazy!"

Shirou turned to face his classmate with a frown. "No, I didn't, but I think the emergency response teams passed by Sakura and I on the way to school today. What happened?"

"It caught on fire, and the people inside were all dead!"

"That's terrible, but what's so strange about it?"

His classmate leaned in close and whispered "The people inside all died in their seats, last night, but the fire was started this morning! Someone must have closed up the theater like normal, and just left the bodies there overnight!"

"That's terrible! What kind of evil person would do something like that?"

"I don't know Shirou. I don't know."

XIXI

Shirou sprinted across the floor of the Archery Club's dojo, bent nearly double so he could scrub the floor as he ran. "Almost- huf huf done!" He stood up, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

Shinji had asked him to clean up after practice so he could make it to dinner with his friends before the resteraunt closed. It wasn't that big a deal, and Shirou was happy to help a friend. He'd just have to hurry to make it home in time for dinner. Sakura made great-

BOOM!

XIXI

"There is another Servant nearby," Archer's voice whispered from behind Rin's shoulder. She'd had him stay behind her during school after the third time he'd distracted her. She may be a magus, but there was no reason not to do well in school.

"I can't tell anything else, I'm not Caster, but they seem to be broadcasting their presence."

Rin turned her head, checking the deserted hallway behind her. "We're alone. You can materialize now Archer." As her Servant faded back into view she remembered why he distracted her earlier. _He looks so familiar, but I can't place who he is._

"Can you feel it master? There's a foreboding feeling in the air, like something familiar and strange at the same time. That's what another Servant feels like when they get close. Remember that." He gave Rin a reassuring smile, and she felt more confidant.

Maybe her Servant wasn't so bad after all, even if he wasn't a Saber. Archers were supposed to be hard to kill, most of the other classes could only deal damage close in, so as long as they kept their distance, they should have a better than average chance.

They'd just have to watch out for Caster, because that class of Servant could sense others from- what was that! ?

Archer suddenly materialized and leapt backwards, pushing his Rin behind him as a spear cracked down where she was just a moment before. "I guess that makes you our mystery Servant, Lancer."

The blue-clad Servant's eyes widened. "How did you know?"

"The giant spear." Archer smirked and drew his swords, positioning himself between Lancer and Rin.

"Then, judging by your choice of weapons, you must be Saber, strongest of the Servant classes."

"No, I'm Archer. Good guess, though you're right about one thing though. I _am_ probably the strongest Servant in the war."

BOOM!

XIXI

Shirou fell on his knees as a shockwave slammed down on the dojo, reducing it to burning kindling around him. _The fire changed was changing colors from red to black, Magecraft. He was being attacked by a mage!_

His father's lessons flashed through his head, and he lay still in the rubble. _If the mage was after someone else they'd ignore him, and if they were after him they might think he was knocked out in one attack. The first rule of being ambushed by powerful mages was simple. Don't be. _

_If you get jumped anyway, don't let them pick the battlefield. A surprising number of modern mages don't have a well conditioned body, so running is usually an option. _

He glanced up out of the corner of his eye and saw a cloaked magus standing where the sliding door had been, silhouette d by the setting sun. Shirou blinked, and the figure was sliced in half before disapearing, replaced by a man in a blue jumpsuit, wielding a serrated spear.

"Drat. It was fake." The new man turned to look at Shirou. "Sorry about this, but normal people aren't allowed to know."

XIXI

_The previous night_

Ganondorf walked out of the cheap hotel's lobby and flared his senses outward, noting the relative position and power of the other 'Servants' in this war he'd been released into. Information about his surroundings, about cars, planes, fashions, internal combustion, the decline of magic, and, most importantly, the rules of the Grail War, all poured into his head, channeled through the marks on his summoner's hand.

He'd moved the marks to his own hand, a delicate bit of necromancy, but it should be well worth the magic expenditure in the long run.

Magic, even after ages had passed it still bent to his command. The portal behind him closed, and Ganondorf peered up at the night sky, bordered below by the city lights, and saw the moon. It was the same moon, looking as though a giant fist had flattened its face.

The sorcerer raised his hand, channeling his magic into the earth beneath him and [i]_twisting[/i] _it, creating a ring of black in the moonlight. His lesser magic still came just as easily, also good.

The Grail supplied him with more information. True Magic, magecraft, Prana, Od, terms he'd need to know to discuss his magic with his master- if he hadn't killed him.

Ganondorf's armor, regal black plate trimmed in gold, dissolved into his shadow. Another spell turned wrapped him in what he knew to be appropriate garments for one of his physical stature in this time. How would he disguise his sword? It was too large to hide inside his shirt, and too out of place to explain away.

Ah. He changed his clothing again, the lost prana instantly replaced by the Triforce on his hand, and walked into town. He'd need a place to spend the night.

Not many places would be open, and surely one of the other contestants would be watching the hotels. Where could he find a business open this late that had a place to rest that had beds (or chairs- he couldn't be picky) was large enough for him?

XIXI

_The same night- CinemaLand Theaters_

The security camera saw everything.

It saw the cashier slip a few thousand yen out of the register and into his pocket. It saw him selling tickets to the elderly, school age children who should be sleeping, salarymen who's wives would miss them, and a large red-haired surfer dude who insisted on carrying his board inside. He'd sit in the back row, he said.

It didn't see any of those people leave, and the man at the cashier never clocked out.

XIXI

Shirou stepped back further into the burning rubble, the shattered remnants of a broom clutched in his hand. When had he picked that up? It didn't matter, he held it between him and the madman in blue, frantically recalling the few lessons he'd been given on fighting with hafted weapons.

"I really won't enjoy this." The impossibly fast man said calmly. "In fact, I really wish I didn't have to kill you, but orders are orders, and I'm not allowed to let word spread."

"Are you- did you kill those people last night?" Shirou moved from one idea to the other, discarding all of them. This man was just too fast, inhumanly fast.

"No." The blue man- only his skin was a normal color, shook his head. "But I hope you'll excuse me if I get this over with. I was busy before I came to investigate." He hefted his spear in one hand and jumped high into the air, bringing his arm forward to impale the young man on-

But at the last second Shirou brings his broom handle up to block, its reinforced shaft holding for a fraction of a second before it shatters, and Lancer turns his weapon aside to bury itself in the smoking ground.

His eyes shone with barely concealed relief as he let out a barking laugh. "You're a mage! I don't have to kill you after all, but you have seen me… I think it's only fair that I take you to talk things over with my master, hm?"

A flash of blue, a thump Shirou felt before he heard, and everything went dark.

XIXI

A voice Shirou recognized was speaking in harsh, angry tones in the dark behind his eyelids. "...don't care what you meant, I followed your orders to the letter!"

Another replied. "I don't want any witnesses! This is a dangerous stage of my plans, and I can't have my Servant making actions that-"

"Don't give me that, Priest!" He was in a church, and there was a vaulted ceiling high above him, dimly illuminated by candlelight. "We both know your Association won't appreciate you ordering the death of mages. I [i]felt[/i] him reinforce the stick he tried to block with!"

Both men were yelling now, a blue blur and a black blur.

"I'm warning you Lancer, I won't stand for this! The boy must be silenced. Now either I can do it myself, and get some use out of him before the little idiot dies, or you can do it and make it quick!"

The black blur was pointing at him. Strange. Blue Blur seemed to be getting desperate.

"If you won't save an innocent, then save him because of what he represents! Whoever trained him would owe you a favor, owe the Church a favor, because you spared him! Just listen to reason!"

"I already told you to- " Black Blur pulls his arm back away from Shirou, who manages to open his eyes a little more. Was his face bruised again? Taiga would kill him if he had _two_ black eyes.

"Actually, that would be better than killing him. A favor. I wonder if Rin's taken an apprentice behind my back, the crafty little minx."

Knock-Knock-Knock.

The hollow thumps of the door being knocked on echoed in the hall of the church. Black Blur walked over to the door, ignoring Blue Blur, who had disappeared, and opened it.

There was another blurred figure in the doorway, this one golden colored. Shirou groggily cursed his black eyes, he definitely had two of them.

"Hello False Priest, I have a few things I need to discuss with you."

XIXI

Morning. Ganondorf woke up in the dark theater surrounded by fresh corpses. A wave of his hand produced a fresh disguise. First things first, he'd need to find the Department of Records.

XIXI

Kirie blinked. The King of Heroes was standing on the doorstep of his church, holding a long knife with a hunk of seared meat impaled on it. The meat was _glowing._

The Gate of Babylon holds all but a few Noble Phantasms in their truest, most powerful forms. The only weapons not stored in it's vaults are the few that were not forged when Gilgamesh ruled Babylon, and the handful even he had never seen.

It also holds all the random things the King of Heroes didn't want to throw away. This… didn't really explain anything, Kirie thought, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Gilgamesh, why does that meat have prana coming out of it?"

The King of Heroes was standing there, holding the glowing magic meat.

Gilgamesh finished chewing, and cleared his throat. "Because it's godly. But that isn't the point. I came here to have words with you about the Grail War. I wasn't aware a piece of filth like you would get a second chance at winning the Grail." There was a golden circlet on his head, set with a single uncut Amethyst.

"Because of the plan. You remember that, don't you?" Kirie stepped back, inviting his ally inside. This was almost too much to handle. First Bazett had put up more of a fight than she should have been able to, then Lancer'd almost killed him in retaliation, then his heart had started acting up and he had to visit a doctor. He was burning od just to make sure he didn't have another heart attack!

His opening day in the Fifth War had not been ideal, to put it lightly.

The previous War's Archer hadn't moved inside, instead opening the Gate of Babylon with a murmur and placing his knife inside. "I see you only have one command seal left, Servant giving you trouble?"

"Only a little." Kirie reassured him. "It seems Lancer has a few out-of-class skills I hadn't been counting on, as well as a troublesome code of honor. It's nothing I can't handle. I can still hold up my end of the deal."

Gilgamesh chuckled, but still didn't smile. "I have no doubts about that, False Priest. You've always been a little roach, when you need to be." Now he smiled, a thin-lipped, one sided smile. "I've changed my mind, King's Prerogative, you little piece of-."

Time seemed to slow down for Kirie was his hand slipped inside his jacket, settling across one of the Black Keys. Gilgamesh always gloated before he killed, so this would be his only chance. A cut through the neck, an eye, or the temple would finish him off and leave him unable to open the…

Gilgamesh had never closed the Gate of Babylon.

A chain shot out of the darkness, wrapping around his arms before running his torso through and pinning him to the church door.

He gasps through the pain, and uses his last command seal. "Lancer, eliminate the threat."

Lancer sights his target from his perch in the rafters, and threw Gae Bulg.

Gae Bulg was back in his hand. Iron spines expanded throughout the target's body, the spear pierced the heart, it was flashing through the air. It was in Cu Chulainn's hand, ready to throw.

The last thing Kotomine Kirie ever saw was his Servant's smirk.

XIXI

Archer blinked, and Lancer had disappeared. He saw a streak of blue out of the corner of his eye headed towards the archery club's practice dojo, where the younger him should still be cleaning.

He didn't remember the dojo exploding in a cloud of dark fire. Seconds later, after nearly an eternity of anxious waiting, Rin climbed back up onto the roof, just in time to see Lancer jump through the air holding one of her classmates in the school's uniform.

"Archer! What happened?"

"I don't know." He replied, following Lancer's path with his eyes and judging his destination. Good, it was still the church Kotomine Kirie preached at. At least _that_ was still the same. "But I do know there was another Servant here. He made that dojo explode. Lancer broke off and went to investigate while I stayed to guard you in case it was a trick."

He turned to look at his young master. "Lancer left carrying another person. Who'd be here that late?"

Rin swore. "Archer, we've got to go after him. I'm the landowner, and making sure there isn't too much collateral damage is mostly my responsibility. The only person who'd be here this late at night is Emiya Shirou, and…"

"And you don't think he deserves to have Lancer take advantage of him?"

Rin's eyes widened, "You mean Lancer is-"

"Probably going to rip open Shirou's throat and collect his blood for mana after tearing torturing him for information on you." Archer completed. "Master? Why are you blushing?"

"I-I Thought you meant…."

Archer muttered, "I'm going to forget my cute little master said that," before continuing in his normal voice. "Should we go rescue him?"

"Of course."

Archer picked up his master, and away they went.

XIXI

"This isn't the best situation we could be in." Archer was holding his master with his arm around her waist as he jumped from building to building, following Lancer's path. "Neither of us knows anything about this Lancer's master, or his base of operations, other than the general direction he was carrying your classmate in."

Rin spoke up. "If he was moving in a straight line he might be heading to Kotomine's church. I know he's a mage, so he might be another master. I hope he is."

"Why? Archer asked. "You said he took care of you as a child."

"He's a lech, a creep, and if I wasn't a more powerful mage than he is I'm sure I would have had an 'accident' one day and disappeared." They were silent for a while, the only noise the wind rushing by them.

"Archer?"

"Yes master?"

"I heard you say you were probably one of the most powerful Servants in this war. Were you just trying to intimidate Lancer, or have you remembered something about yourself?"

"I know what all of my abilities are now, Rin, I don't remember my full name though. You can call me Emiya in private. Do you want to hear about my abilities? We have a few minutes before we reach the church."

"I would like that, Emiya."

"First, I specialize in a unique branch of magic. I can recreate objects I've seen, including their history and powers. Usually I use this to create weapons- I'm best with swords- but I can also trace furniture, works of art, and the like."

"That sounds powerful, can it replicate a Noble Phantasm?"

Archer grinned at his awestruck passenger. "Yes it certainly can. It seems we've arrived though. Tell me master, what's the plan?"

XIXI

"The plan's simple." Rin explained. "We can't plan out much, since we don't know anything about the situation beyond the layout of the church. It's basic, just a large hall full of benches, with a raised section at one end. The other rooms are all in a separate building, that one there."

"So he might be held in the-"

"Kirie loves drama, he'll be in the main hall, just in case. Here's the plan. Burst through one of the windows on the side, grab Shirou, and run for it. If we're followed we'll go to my home, if we're not we'll get Shirou to take us back to his house. I know he lives alone, and none of the other mages would expect me to stay in a non magical home."

Archer twitched. "That seems awfully simple, Master, are you sure that's the best plan you can come up with?"

"Yes." Rin replied frostily. "Now get in there and hurry back, I-"

Archer suddenly grabbed his master and hurled them both harshly to the left. "Get down!"

"What are you? !"

"Stay quiet, Rin! Can't you feel it? Someone's using a Noble Phantasm, and they're _outside the church._"

"Lancer?"

"No, it feels different, older." Archer scowled. "It's another Servant. _That_ one's Lancer."

"If there are two of them, then we should make our move while they're distracted." Rin ordered. "Now, Archer."

Archer burst forward, prana blasting out behind him to speed his movement until he was faster than even Lancer was moving, reinforcing his bones, his tendons, his muscles and skin to withstand the acceleration.

It was over in a fraction of a second. Dual swords were thrown through the window to break the lead seams. Archer landed beside Shirou's barely conscious body.

Then they were both gone, the only evidence of their passing the shattered window and the gouges the swords had left in the floor.

XIXI

A river divides the Fuyuki city in half, with the urban district closer to the commerce brought by the harbor. Legends tell of a dragon that sleeps in the river, that an ancient monk converted to his religion (which religion changes depending on who tells the story).

One thing the stories all agree on, though, is that the monk came from the Ryuudougi Temple at the far east corner of town, buried deep in the woods there. The temple was not abandoned, since it received funding from the government as an ancient Shinto temple, but less and less people came to worship as time moved on. The vast complex is almost empty at night, with only a few monks tending the grounds.

After spending all day deep in the Department of Records, where several rumors were discretely passed about the tall, sinister, though handsome, surfer from Osaka, Ganondorf had decided on a location.

The temple.

XIXI

Rin had been counting on two things to keep them safe once she and Archer had rescued Shirou, location and a bounded field.

Lancer knew where the Tohsaka residence was, and Kotomine would probably send Lancer as well as the other Servant present, presumably an ally, to eliminate her early in the war. She'd need another place to stay, and the Emiya residence was far away from her house, in the traditional district. It was also even further away from the church.

Second, she'd need to stay in a place that had a bounded field set up to contain magical emanations, or the Caster of the war would detect her. It was possible the other Servant at they'd detected was that one, since Caster was a weak class and would probably seek allies.

So she'd decided on the Emiya residence, since he was the son of the Magus Killer, his house was sure to be a veritable fortress.

Unfortunately, she'd forgotten something.

Shirou's adopted father had died when he was young, and evidently he'd child-safed the property to stop Shirou from killing himself on the defensive magic she'd read so much about.

The only bounded field on the entire property was pathetically weak.

XIXI

Rin immediately began issuing orders to Archer. "Double check for bounded fields. I wouldn't put it past Emiya's father to hide them, and it wouldn't be safe for me to put up my own if there's another I don't take into account."

Archer nodded, and stepped out the window. Rin looked around for a place to put Shirou, and settled on the dining room table. He wasn't too badly off. In fact, it looked like he was waking up again.

"Do you hear me, Emiya Shirou? How many fingers am I holding up?"

Shirou gurgled.

"Oh, that's right. You got hit in the face pretty hard. Close your eyes." Shirou did as she said, and felt his face grow warm as the swelling drained from the massive bruise covering his face.

"Rin! Quick, we've got to get out of here. There's some kind of maniac running around with a spear, and somebody else snatched me out of some kind of church the first guy brought me to, and now they're probably going to come after you next because you're a mage too, and-"

Rin almost screamed in surprise. "You're a mage!"

XIXI

Archer was [i]not[/i] having good day. He'd had a simple plan to make sure everything turned out better. First he'd make a contract with the world, then he'd go on missions of ever increasing difficulty from (badly) fighting cranky True Ancestors to killing off large groups of people who were researching biological weapons.

This was supposed to be the culmination of his plan, the moment where he proved his ideals by stopping himself from ever existing! There were just two, tiny, problems.

This Tohsaka Rin was cuter than the one he'd grown up with, and that just wasn't fair. It was hard to say no to those big blue eyes and serious face- so sure she was in control of everything that mattered. The way she crinkled her lips when she was sure he was hiding something made him want to- _stop that. _

Can't get distracted. Again, dammit.

More importantly, this timeline was diverging rapidly from his, to the point where he couldn't even be sure killing himself was the best way to prove nothing mattered in the end. Maybe he should just steal all the cute girls, and leave the younger him without any?

Ah, the summoning circle. He remembered _this_, how could he not? Now all he had to do was get Shirou (he'd decided to call himself Archer or Emiya in his head, it was easier that way) to come out to the workshop, and he could set things back on course.

XIXI

Rin grabbed Shirou by his shoulders and held him up against the wall. "What do you mean I'm a mage?! Magic isn't real, there isn't a massive war between Heroic Spirits and their masters going on in Fuyuki city, and I didn't have my Servant rescue you from my legal guardian because he was going to take advantage of your unconscious body!"

Archer tapped her shoulder, "Master, I've found some kind of circle in the shed, and I think you should have a look. Um." He looked at Shirou, who was staring back at him with wide eyes. "You do know hypnosis doesn't usually work on mages, right?"

XIXI

"...And that's what's happening!" Archer concluded, folding his arms. "Any questions?"

"Yes." Shirou asked the taller man. "Why couldn't Rin tell me this, and where did she go?"

"Rin's in your workshop looking at a partially materialized bounded field of some sort. I couldn't tell any of the specifics because, well, magecraft isn't my specialty." They looked at each other over the table in silence for a moment, then Archer continued. "Soooo. What do you think of Rin, I know you were looking earlier."

"What- I didn't!"

Archer chuckled. "You know you did. When I walked in she had you pinned to the wall with her hands around you, so I think there might be something going on. How long have you been seeing each other?"

Shirou stood up, knocking his chair back in his haste. "She had her hands around my neck! She was trying to mind control me and-"

"And I bet you'd be willing to do whatever she said without the mind control, wouldn't you?" It was taking all of his concentration for Emiya to keep a straight face. He hadn't had this much fun since that time in Russia when he'd been deployed to Tunguska to run damage control for a Type Moon fragment. Well, before she tried to kill him. Everything was sorted out in the end though, so that mission was a success, despite the localized earthquake, and the blast wave. And...

Now that he thought about it, how exactly had he pulled that off? That's right, his backup had distracted her while he... Now he remembered why he didn't remember!

Repress. Repress. Repress.

"Archer," Shirou interupted. "Why are you hitting yourself with a mace?"

Rin walked back in. "Shirou, did Archer explain everything?"

"He told me there are a bunch of supervillains trying to kill you, because you're his sidekick, and he's the hero Archer. I haven't heard of him because he's from America, where he works with the Pirate Queen."

Rin stared blankfaced, completely unable to react.

"Do you think I could be a superhero too?"

XIXI

Rin dusted off her hands and took her foot off of where it was resting, on Archer's back. "Now that certain people have stopped being [i]cute[/i]," She waited to see if Archer was going to say something witty again from his position on the floor, he didn't. "There's some kind of weird invisible bounded field on the floor in the workshop you've got out back Emiya. What is it? Wait-"

She walked back into the kitchen and came out a moment later with a damp rag. "Wipe off your face, you were bleeding everywhere and the blood's still there."

Shirou dragged his eyes away from the mess on the floor and took the offered cloth. Once his face was clean he answered Rin. "I don't know. I'm not a very good mage, so I'm not surprised I missed something father tried to hide, but I'll go take a look. It might be a message he left." He led the way out back, talking as he went on.

"It used to be I couldn't go more than a month without finding something he'd hidden, and I know I shouldn't pry into his affairs, but some of those things were pretty useful." He turned to look at his classmate. "Did you know he wrote a book on how to recognize mages?"

He didn't mention that recognizing mages was only a small part of the first chapter, and the rest of the four hundred page manual was about how to _kill_ mages once they'd been identified. That might make her mad at him, and he didn't want to end up barely conscious lump of bruises like Archer, again.

"On that topic, what gave me away?" Rin asked. "I thought I did a good job blending in."

"Your name." Shirou admitted as he opened the workshop door. "I never would have figured it out, but the book had family trees of all the local magical families, and I was interested when I saw you had the same birth year I did, so I paid attention."

"I suppose that's flattering." _I hope he wasn't… No, he seems like a nice guy, not like Shinji._ "That's the field there. Do you see it?" She pointed at the corner where she could feel something wasn't quite fitting in with the rest of the floor.

"If it's the same as all the others, it'll activate if I put some blood in it. It's here, right?"

"Yes."

Shirou pulled out a small pen knife, and pricked his thumb, letting a sprinkle of his blood fall to the ground. The bounded field vanished, revealing a summoning circle etched into the floor!

Rin realized what Emiya Kiristugu had done an instant before the circle activated. She realized the sheer artistry that must have gone into forming the habits that had led Shirou to this point. Hiding blood-sensitive bounded fields on the property to get his son into the habit of putting blood on them, then having the Servant Summoning circle be much better hidden than the rest, with some kind of attracting element to it tied onto the property, all to make sure Shirou would notice it during the fifth Holy Grail War.

She admired his planning, but the man was crazy.

She also noticed that more prana was being released by the circle than she'd used in her summoning. It was hard not to notice, when the weight of it was pushing her backwards.

There was a scarlet light that filled the workshop, then the Servant spoke. Average sized, female, with neck length blond hair in a ponytail, and wearing a suit of armor with a plated skirt, she spoke to Shirou.

"I am Servant Saber, and I ask of you. Are you my master?"

XIXI

She was alone again. Her brother had finally left her alone.

As she cleaned up the mess and prepared for bed, the worms inside her roiled in tune with her emotions, barely controlled. Filthy, she was filthy and she didn't deserve to be happy.

She wished she could be angry about what they did to her, but she couldn't. She could hate her sister, though. She could hate the sister that had everything she wanted_. Why did I have to be sent here, father? _She thought as she drifted off to sleep._ At least she doesn't have _him._ I'll see _him_ in the morning, and I can be happy again for a while._

Who knows, tomorrow she may even change her mind about hurting people.

XIXI

The two of them sat on a ruined pew, sharing the warmth of the fire coming from the burning sword embedded in the floor, and toasting their meat on more swords. The reminisce, and talk about their pasts.

"So the goddess of sex wanted you too? I knew I made the right choice, the harlot wanted me too!"

"Nah, nah, it was a great big fairy. Not a goddess at all."

"The green one with the balloon?"

"Mab, I think. Pass the wine, I don't think either of us is drunk enough."

Tomorrow, perhaps, they might be sober enough to walk.

XIXI

"Berserker, tell me a story."

The giant leaned down, and tucked his little master in. _So much like his daughter. _"Which one would you like to hear tonight?"

She yawned, and commanded him. "Tell me about how you rescued Prometheus, and humbled the gods."

"Very well. I was walking through the woods one day…"

Tomorrow he would fight to the death, but tonight, he could pretend he was a father again.

XIXI

Two Servants lay on the roof of the house their masters slept in.

"I can feel your sword, you know. No one who knows a blade as well as I could ever mistake it."

"You will not tell your master?" A question that wasn't.

"No." He shakes his head. "If you or your master decided to share that information then that's your decision, but I… I suppose I should tell you something about myself, it's only fair."

"It is."

"I have a second goal, and a third, besides winning this Grail War. In fact, I don't think I'd mind losing as long as did what I needed to."

"That doesn't seem like a fair trade of information to me."

"I have a person to kill and a point to prove. I can't share any more than that."

"Very well." She nods acceptance.

Tomorrow they might be at each other's throats, but for now they were allies.

XIXI

He did not rest that first full night of the Holy Grail War. Evil deeds were best hidden in the midnight hour, and he was too busy. He had a dragon to deal with.

End Day One.


	2. Chapter 2

Well, here's the first part of day two. Not much action in it, but the second part's got plenty of that to last you, and it'll be up in just a bit. Does anyone actually read these things? Does anyone really care that I don't own anything in this story except the specific order the events are carried out in?

Anyways, this should help justify the story's name a little bit more. As always, Spacebattles gets all this first, so check the creative board out if you want the next bit **right** **now** and can't wait.

XIXI

Sakura woke to the sound of her alarm. Dressing with her usual care, she began the walk to Shirou's house. _I wonder how he's doing today_. She thought. _The Grail War will be kicking off soon, would it be safer for him to live in the Matou house, behind the defensive perimeter? The accounts said there was a lot of collateral damage in the previous war. _

She shook her head and frowned. _No, best not to let him near Z- father. Besides, if he finds out how not-nice Shinji really is he might not like me any more. _

She arrived at the Emiya residence, only to stop in shock at what she saw through the window. The Favorite was in her Shirou's house. She'd stolen him from her, the only thing Sakura really had to be happy about.

Something cracked.

Sakura didn't make Shirou breakfast that morning, and she wasn't at school that day either.

XIXI

"Are you sure about this?" Cu Chulainn asked his ally, standing in the clearing outside the now abandoned church.

"Of course! My darling Saber must have a proper apology for how I behaved during the last war. It was unbefitting of a king to act in such a manner."

"Are you sure she's in this war too, then?"

"As if the Einzbern's would consent to summoning a less magnificent Servant than they possibly could! My darling is surely in this war as well."

"Then are you sure this is the best way to apologize?" Lancer clarified. "I mean, this isn't very subtle, and modern magi seem pretty secretive about the whole 'magic is real' thing."

"Cu Chulainn, look at me." Gilgamesh said in all seriousness. "Do I look like a subtle man?"

The Lancer looked at the giant suit of golden armor, the circlet, and the earrings. "No."

"Then the miserable excuses for mages should be grateful I'm being _this_subtle." Gilgamesh pulled a key-like shortsword out of his breastplate and muttered, "This would be so much easier if that mongrel of a Berserker hadn't wrecked my airship."

Lancer cut to the chase. "Then why don't you just repair it, instead of complaining about the damn thing." Gilgamesh had kept on that topic for half an hour last night, before muttering about 'mongrels and gods that don't know their place' for another four jugs. "Surely you've got some kind of noble phantasm in your vault for that.

Gilgamesh shook his head in amazement and scoffed. "Actually…."

XIXI

When Illyasviel von Einzbern awoke, it was to the sound of explosions. She rolled off her bed, then under it. _Berserker!_

Her Servant heeded her call, appearing to appear out of thin air from sheer speed, as he placed himself between his master and the open window. Then he relaxed, and chuckled. "Little master, I think you should look outside."

What she saw both amazed and astonished the young woman. Someone was writing a message in the air out of- _exploding swords?_

XIXI

_My dearest beloved- Saber. _

_I wish to apologize for my actions in the previous Grail War, ten years past. I now understand why you did not seek my kingly presence, and forgive you for my the crimes I judged you guilty of in my heart. _

_I would seek your forgiveness on the field of battle, my darling. I have recently had a conversation with another Servant, late the minion of the unlamented Kotomine Kirie, whereupon I have realized that part of your enchanting nature is that I do not possess you. _

_It is my intention, therefore, to seek your approval in stalwart battle, both with yourself and with others. _

_Signed,_  
_~Gilgamesh, King of Heroes, Lord of Uruk, ect. ect._

Rin could only twitch in response. And the knife that had appeared in her hand made quick stabbing motions. Someone was going to **pay**for this.

XIXI

Archer walked out the back door the second he felt the darkness come close to the Emiya house. He hadn't planned on completing his mission this early, but ignoring coincidences had a nasty habit of coming back to bite him.

The last time he hadn't taken full advantage of a coincidence his partners had nearly died, and no matter how many memory wipes they performed, some Londoners could still remember the blood tide the red-wearing vampire had used to kill the alternate Church's crusade.

How the hell had a non-magus managed to bind a Dead Apostle Ancestor, anyway?

_The point was_, he reminded himself emphatically, _he couldn't let this one get away from him._

But by the time he'd made it outside, and to the spot he'd sensed the target, the darkness was gone, and the only person on the street was a large dark skinned man with a gigantic boom box.

Where did she go?

XIXI

Phantasmal Beasts have an innate magic resistance that grows with age and power, until they become Divine Beasts, and gain a complete immunity to all forms of lesser and greater magecraft. Some magi say that the only way to see if you have discovered a form of magic, rather than an incredibly powerful thaumaturgical process, is to test it on an elder dragon.

One such dragon slept in the Miongawa river. Last night it had a sudden urge to visit the temple, as it sometimes did to teach the monks martial arts. When it arrived, it felt the corruption of the land deep in its bones, and its teeth ached to tear apart whoever was so foolish as to desecrate the holy ground.

There was a tall man with red hair and dark skin, a foreigner, on the steps before the final torii gate at the entrance. The intruder was unaware of the hunting beast, so the dragon slunk low on the steps behind him, and struck with the fury of a waterfall and the speed of a raging river!

The dark creature was torn asunder by its eight front claws and scything teeth!

But the dragon tasted only smoke, oily smoke that poured out of the corpse and down its throat and eyes and nostrils and that-

That…

Darkness.

XIXI

Shirou looked up from where he was fixing breakfast for his guests. "Saber, did you see the letter this morning?"

"I have not looked at the mail." The blond woman refused to turn her head, staring resolutely out the window at the yard.

"The letter in the sky." Shirou corrected. "The one from some guy named Gilgamesh. You know," He turned around and leaned back on the counter, changing the subject as he saw the ominous look on Saber's face. "If he knows you, you must have been summoned before, in a previous grail war."

"Did you know my father? His name was Emiya Kir-"

"-itsugu. I knew him, yes." Saber looked into her master's eyes. "He was my master in the previous Holy Grail War, and we were victorious. Do not, " She paused for emphasis. "Tell the other master unless you believe that information is truly relevant. The knowledge I hold about the Holy Grail War's structure, and how the masters in it are likely to behave, is an advantage you should not frivolously trade away, master.

Shirou turned back to his cooking, but not before giving his Servant a solemn nod. If this woman was his father's summoning, if what he had read in his father's journal was true, it would not be wise to discount such a powerful ruler.

He glanced at her in a reflection in the side of a pot's lid, bringing up the status screen for his Servant in his mind.

But this Saber had higher parameters than his father had recorded, why? What had changed, that the Grail was increasing the abilities of the most powerful class?

Saber was silent, but her memories were of a dark haired man that destroyed her dreams with a few, simple, words. A man that would plant a bomb in a hotel to kill a single magus inside. She remembered such a man, and knew he had a son.

He would have to prove himself. If the son was like the father… She hoped he was not, for his own sake.

XIXI

"I know you don't want to go back there, but we both need to go to the church and introduce ourselves to the supervisor." Rin continued in her head. _And see if he knows what idiot was firing off some kind of thaumaturgy to make that letter this morning._

"I just don't think it's a good idea to go up and talk to the man who had me kidnapped just yesterday!" Shirou nearly shouted, before continuing in a quieter tone. "Is this really the best idea? You said Lancer was the fastest of the Servant classes. What if he makes a grab for you this time?"

The two of them were walking down the streets of Fuyuki city, on their way to the church despite their misgivings. Saber was behind them both, wearing one of Rin's spare uniforms, and Rin had borrowed one of the long black coats in the closet at the Emiya house.

She later denied that she had _ever_squeaked at the sight of it. "He'd have to be an idiot to attack two Servants and a magus of my caliber at once, and Kirie's no fool. All we have to do is show up, tell him your name and your Servant's class, and then we can both leave."

"I think there's a problem with that plan, master." Archer materialized in front of the trio, ignoring the slight twitch Saber's hands made towards her waist. "It seems the church has been suffered damage beyond a broken window, and I can't feel a single living soul inside, or under, it."

XIXI

After shaking the unconscious sage's daughter out of the boombox, (she had to be the darkness sage's daughter, there was no other reason for her to smell so much like decay and filth, Ganondorf knew he had to work quickly.

He erected a hasty, but powerful, barrier around the temple grounds to stop entrance and exit, then got to work.

Sakura was bound hand and foot in iron shackles he'd drawn from darkness, then he hit her head again lightly with the boombox.

He ignored the crunching gravel as she flipped, and the blood streaming down her face from her nose, which he'd broken with the blow that knocked her out, and picked her back up.

Ganondorf carried the unconscious girl deep inside the temple, not stopping until he reached a small stone room in the back, with one small door and no windows.

He gestured, and the walls, floor, and ceiling glowed with barely restrained power. When he was satisfied with his security measures, he placed the girl in the center of the room and quickly drew a diagram around her, a diagram that bore a disturbing similarity to the command seals on his right hand…

XIXI

Sakura wasn't at school, which made Shinji nervous. He could feel Rider's anxiety as well, through the book he'd put in his bag.

They both had the same reasoning. If Sakura was killed, or captured, they both would run out of prana in short order, with disastrous consequences. Without Sakura fueling his Servant, Medusa might decide to… take revenge… for all the indignities her master had put her through.

Shinji really should have had his Servant with him as he went home in her immaterial state, but the evaluating look her eyes held behind her glasses. _Brrr_. He'd sent her ahead to make sure the house was secure.

He didn't want her around when he couldn't see where she was looking.

It was an unnecessary risk, one a more experienced magus would have avoided, but Shinji was born with very little magical potential, and hadn't been practicing magcraft for long. Nevertheless, nothing happened as he walked home.

The only person he saw on the long walk home was a little girl with white hair, going the same way, so why couldn't he stop the feeling that he was being watched?

XIXI

"I'm going to need a bigger milkshake." Sitting across from Illya, Berserker looked dubiously at the frozen concoction sitting on the table in front of him.

"Just try it first." Illya asked. "I'm not buying you another until you know if you like strawberry."

"But what if I don't like strawberry?"

Illya laughed, her tinkling voice echoing across the shop. "Don't be silly! Everyone likes strawberry. It's like the magical girl of flavors! Everyone likes it, even if they don't want to admit it."

"But you said…" Her giant Servant sighed, and gave up. He picked up the spoon, it looked comical, his fingers were bigger than it was, and had a bite of the milkshake. "It's good." He confirmed with a thin smile.

His little master slammed herself back down into her seat. "I knew it! Just don't eat too fast of you'll get a-"

"Aaagh!"

She finished in a monotone. "Brain freeze."

XIXI

In the harbor a fog was rolling in. Everyone the bank of grey touched, dockworkers, sailors, and everyone else, fell asleep to dream of pirates and adventures on the high seas. A man high in a loading crane carefully climbed down the ladder in a trance, then curled up and dreamed soft dreams of going back to the home he'd abandoned. A trio of delinquents clustered around a trash fire set in a barrel propped their backs against the nearby wall and dreamed of roaming hither and yon on a high mast ship.

One such ship docked on a pier that hadn't existed earlier. A man jumped off, and began to tie it to the dock. In a few seconds, no need for haste in all situations, he stepped back onto the ship and climbed the ladder to the top deck. "Something's definitely wrong here. I'll want to take a look around first, though, before I make any conclusions."

The other figure, presumably the captain of the ship, let her hands off the wheel. "Are you sure this is where we're supposed to go?"

"Do _you_feel like arguing with Alaya? Besides, I can see the effects of out good friend's passage already."

"The briefing was rather sparse, find Emiya quickly. I don't like going in blind, and anything that he can't handle is going to be bothersome to deal with."

XIXI

"DYSFUNCTION DETECTED- HEROIC SPITIT COUNT EXEEDS PARAMETERS."

Matou Zouken woke with a start, rousing himself from a dream. Who was it about? He'd promised him something, but… It wasn't important. Certainly it wasn't important compared to _that_alarm. The Einzberns only created the central relic, the Tohsaka simply donated the land, but the Matou governed the Grail's inner workings, and updated the database of knowledge the summoned Servants were supplied with.

Not that he could alter them enough to matter, he usually just let the thing connect to the library at Todai. Of course, he'd _tried_to use the governing parameters of the artifact to cheat, but there were locks build in, and he couldn't override them without the other heads of the three families. Still, he'd kept the damned thing running for all his lifetime. He wasn't about to start ignoring it now, not when he was so close to his final goal.

He levered himself up out of bed, ignoring his creaking bones with a flood of prana to the relevant muscle groups. "What's wrong this time?" He complained.

"INPUT NOT RECOGNIZED. DYSFUNCTION DETECTED- HEROIC SPITIT COUNT EXEEDS PARAMETERS." The Grail interface repeated in its steady voice. "DESIRED ACTION?"

Now fully awake, Zouken set about correcting yet another error in the ramshackle system's internal logic engine. "Link errors to Servant List."

The only things as powerful as a fully materialized Servant were Heroic Spirits, and he knew they just stayed at the Throne of Heroes unless they got summoned someplace, so the extra Heroic Spirits were probably just Assassin playing tricks with false lives again. He groaned, and lay back down.

Nothing to worry about, not like how he couldn't find his tool.

That was a problem he couldn't ignore. Eh. He'd just tell the waste of flesh to go find it tomorrow.

XIXI

"Back already?" The speaker was a tall figure, full bodied and with a full head of long, curling, black hair. She straightened up from where she was leaning against the ship, and moved to greet another long-coated figure, moving up the dock. "I thought it might take you longer than a few minutes."

Her voice was deep for a woman's, and it rolled like the waves on the ocean, full of dips and swells. The voice that answered through the fog was a drier, almost bored sounding, voice with a pronounced English accent. "Dawn will be soon, and I intend to spend at least _one_night in a real bed this time."

"Bah." She scoffed. "Why should this time be any different? You snoop around, tell me what targets to kill first, and Emiya makes sure nobody gets away. It's always worked before!"

"Because we're backup." The Englishman replied. "He hasn't been recalled, so we don't have all the information, which means I don't know the big picture. Any conclusions I draw, therefore..." He trailed of expectantly.

"Will be based on an insufficiently sound foundation, negatively impacting any inferences you draw _from_said information." The captain continued. "I know, I know. I just asked because…"

"You're bored, hate fighting without style and panache, aren't comfortable without your long-range support, and there's a crocodile in the river." She knew he had that damned eyebrow up. "Did I miss anything?"

"I want to rip out your guts and hang them from the mainmast."

The smaller figure quickly began walking back the way he had come, stepping over an unconcious dockworker. "But you won't, because I know where to find your combat support, and it isn't near the river."

"Lead on."

With that, she fell in behind her friend, leaving her ship behind her. She took one more look at it over her shoulder, sending her ringlets spinning, and saw the fog clear for a split second, revealing the last three letters of the words written in crimson on the side. "-ger".

XIXI

"I don't understand it Issei!" Shirou was walking to his class with his friend. "I mean, at first it was confusing and I didn't really know what to do with her. Then Rin barges in and starts telling me what to do with her!" He raised his hands to his head. "It was nice to have someone demonstrate everything for me, but I barely got any sleep!"

The two of them were walking through the school's halls after almost everyone else had left. Well, Shirou was walking, but Issei had been stricken motionless as he finished interpreting his friend's sentence. "You mean... You and Tohsaka…" He quickly caught back up.

"And even after Rin decided enough was enough and went to sleep, Saber didn't leave me alone! It was nice at first, but after a while it just got creepy." He shivered, then leaned against the window and closed his eyes. "And this Archer guy kept trying to 'help', but none of us thought he was acting very helpful. After the first time he tried to jump in- I just don't even want to remember what she did to him!"

Issei's inner jealousy died down for a moment at the thought of the price Shirou had obviously almost had to pay. "Where is this mystery woman of yours Shirou? What's she like? I didn't see anyone new in class today."

"Uh? Saber? She's a little shorter than me, and she's real serious, focused. She's not in class with us because-" _What was the reason they'd decided on? Oh yes._"Because she's too old." He nodded, and started walking towards the exit. If he didn't get home soon he wouldn't have time to make dinner.

"Anyway, Rin got me up this morning before it got light, and we all- we all took a walk. On the way back, we talked about what we could do. It turns out I barely have enough energy for Saber, but that she'd be in top form because she was getting help from somewhere else too, but I still can't stop her from calling me 'master'. Hey, Issei? Issei! Why are you hitting- Help!"

_a few minutes later_

Issei was unconscious on the floor, with a lump on the back of his head.

Saber has her invisible sword drawn, and looked like she was ready to finish him off as soon as she was given the order.

Rin was lecturing Shirou about unnecessary risks, supported by the occasional glare the blond Servant sent his way.

Archer had heard the entire thing, and was trying as hard as he could to keep a straight face from his position behind Rin. "Master, I don't thing it would be safe for our ally to go to school any more, he's obviously under far to much stress here."

If he'd gone through _his_Grail War like this Shirou was, he probably wouldn't have made so many stupid decisions. He shouldn't aggravate the situation just so his younger self would get lectured more. It would be wrong.

"…"

_There! He'd done it._

"Perhaps you and Saber could use his new free time to 'educate' him about the way things like this work? I mean, a partnership of three isn't the way things usually work."

_Spoke too soon, best to hope Rin doesn't pick up on it._

After some thought, Rin agreed. "Yes. Emiya, it's obviously too dangerous for you here, so you'll be getting training during the day instead." She paused for a moment, ignoring Shirou's exited look at receiving training from another mage. "Archer, you said 'partnership of three', why?"

"Because one of us hardly counts, at this point!"

"Too true." Rin nodded at Shirou, and her Servant sighed internally.

XIXI

"Rin, do you know what happened to Taiga and Sakura? They normally stop my house for breakfast and dinner, and neither of them showed up this morning." He and Rin were walking home, followed by Saber, who was still wearing one of Rin's uniforms. Archer was around… presumably… but he couldn't sense Rin's Servant.

Rin stopped walking for a moment, then continued.

"Rin." Shirou repeated seriously. "What happened to Fujimura-Sensei and Sakura?"

Rin continued to ignore him, quickening her pace.

Shirou channeled Od, reinforcing his legs to let him sprint in front of her, blocking her path. "Rin!"

"All right! No need to shout." _Where's that no good distraction of a Servant when you need him?_"Fujimura came by this morning while you were cooking. I… I was on high alert, and I felt the Prana pouring out of the shinai she was carrying, and I overreacted." She blushed.

Shirou, in contrast, paled drastically. He whispered, "Tora-Shinai. Rin, what did it do to you?" He didn't _see_the massive welts and bruises the cursed practice sword usually left on its victims, but that didn't mean they weren't there. "Where did she hit you? Did it break any bones, because those need medical attention, and might be cursed!"

Saber drew closer, had she missed a threat to her master?

"And why are you assuming she hit me? I'm a mage, and a Tohsaka is perfectly capable of taking care of an amateur swordsman." Rin sniffed.

"I live with Fuji-nee. She teaches me with that shinai. I know perfectly well how good she is, and how easy it is to provoke." He stepped out of their way, and they continued walking to his house. "So what happened?"

"I thought she was Assassin," Rin grumbled, "so I tried to use hypnosis, just to make sure."

"Ouch." Shirou winced. "That was a bad idea, with _that_on her…"

"I know that now. It worked at first, but then my Prana was forced out of her, and this demonic power flowed in instead."

"The Tora-Shinai." Shirou supplied.

"Yes. What I want to know is, how did such a ditz get a Nascent Phantasm? And she's got a ridiculous amount of Od, it doesn't make any sense."

Archer, nearby in spirit form, gave a smile. _"Ah yes, the Tora-Shinai, a most fearsome blade."_ he mentally messaged his master. _"When drawn, it will not be sheathed or laid aside until it has tasted blood. It's been passed down through the Fujimura family for generations, ever since a demon was sealed inside. I seem to remember meeting it before on the field of battle, but… That's it. Sorry master."_

"in, are you even listening to me?" Shirou interrupted her musing.

"Sorry, Archer was telling me about the bl- Tora-Shinai. You knew what it was, didn't you?"

_Should I really tell her this? I don't know._He shrugged. "I guess I can tell you a little. I already said Fuji-nee's been training me in swordplay, right? Well the Tora-Shinai is the blade she used when she was in school. If she hadn't been disqualified for the tiger-print on it she'd be a household name by now. She's really good, and she just told me about it one day."

After a while, Shirou asked again. "How did you get her to leave?"

"It's strange. One second she was telling me I wouldn't be allowed to stay with you, then I tried to hypnotize her, and she was all smiles." She shivered. "But the sky turned red, and the grass seemed like it had all died, and for a moment I thought her eyes turned red!"

They were at Shirou's house, and he unlocked the door to let them in. His Servant Saber still directly behind Rin, listening intently.

"The important thing to remember with Fuji-nee," Shirou started, "is that she knows more than she lets on, even if she jumps to the wrong conclusions sometimes. She was friends with my father during the last Grail War. I think she was right in the middle of the action for a while. The journals aren't clear about that, though."

Rin sat down on a chair in the dining room, and pursed her lips. "So she knows I'm a master?"

"Who knows what she thinks. But since Sakura wasn't at school today she's probably out looking for her." Shirou began taking down pans to fix dinner with. "Do you feel like stir fry, or pork tonight?"

A rumbling noise shook the house, and he turned to see Saber's carefully blank face staring back at him. He pulled down another set of pans and laughed. "Both it is then!"

XIXI

Archer smiled at the conversation going on below him, listening in through his master's ears. _I missed this._The Sun was low in the sky, the air was cool, and the shingles were warm on his back. This was what he'd missed most about Fuyuki city.

Nowhere else was home.

He stirred as he caught a glimpse of red in the street below. Walking up the street, looking right at him, was the notorious other-dimensional Counter Guardian, Captain Hook. Her stance was wide, feet spread shoulder width apart, and her wide brimmed hat sat jauntily on a mess of long, curling, black hair. He knew from personal experience it was as black as her heart.

Her captain's jacket hung off her shoulders like a cloak, sleeves empty and stirring in the breeze, and her too-thin lips were pursed together in her customary scowl in contrast with her otherwise classical face. Her eyes flicked up to meet his, and she brushed the hilt of the longsword at her waist with her left hand- her right arm ended in a wicked hook.

The meaning was clear. _Are you going to meet me down here, or do I have to introduce myself?_

He leapt down, and got straight to the point. "Backup?"

"Yes." The pirate replied. "I don't know what's going on that needs all three of us, but Holmes is here too. He's snooping about as we speak." She pointed towards the house with her chin. "Does your mistress know?"

Emiya sputtered, the somber mood broken immediately. "It isn't like that at all! And no," He continued, "none of them know. I've been pretending not to remember much of my past."

Hook's blue eyes were fixed on the house. "There's some very powerful people in there. The brief said the Tohsaka girl summoned you. Perhaps you ought to get some things off your chest while you have the chance, hm?"

She continued before Archer had a chance to respond. "Try and keep away from your mistress' residence as much as you can for the next day or so, Holmes is going to try and get some local information out of her books about who lives nearby. Akasha didn't give us much to work with. Who's the main target?"

"There's a girl," Archer explained hesitantly, "named Matou Sakura, but she's really Rin's sister. Matou Zouken fused her with a Zoroastrian god at the end of the Fourth Grail War, and it needs to be eliminated. It's not simple either."

Hook snapped, "Why not? Seems simple enough! We just walk up to her, challenge her to a fight, and execute the filth after we win. Quick, simple, proper form."

"Shirou."

"Oh." The Counter Guardian sighed. "Your dream. I did promise to help with that, didn't I?"

Archer wasn't done yet, though. "Besides, I tried to take care of her yesterday, just make her disappear with no one the wiser, but it seems like someone else got to her first. I know it doesn't seem important to you, but Sakura is quite powerful in her full form.

Back when I was alive, she nearly killed everyone, and did kill multiple Heroic Spirits and their masters. We can't let that happen here. We've got to stop the release of a dark god, and the first step is making sure that she doesn't get the chance to realize her full power."

Hook shook her head dismissively. "Don't worry about it. With all three of us here, she's as good as taken care of." She turned away, and walked back the way she had come. "I'm going to go take a walk in the park, then I'll catch up with the detective."

XIXI

After a very nice dinner, every scrap of which was eaten, Shirou turned to his Servant. "Saber, do you think that since Tohsaka seems to have… since I won't be having my normal lessons today, you could teach me?" He started at her suddenly intense stare. "It's just, I don't like to go without, and breaking good habits is easy, and I don't want to break…" He trailed off.

His Servant stood up, and gave him an evaluating gaze. _Was he worth it?_She still hadn't even decided if the son was like the father. Just a few lessons wouldn't change much in any case. "Where do you normally practice?"

"Wait! Emiya, swordplay? That's ridiculous, you're a mage, can't you defend yourself with your craft?" Rin interjected.

"No." Shirou looked down. "I can't. I'm not really a powerful mage. When I was a child, I was actually so bad I almost damaged my magic circuits."

Rin gasped, her earlier trail of thought forgotten. "No- no way. Nobody from a proper family's _that_bad. Why didn't your father educate you properly?"

She paled and raised a pointing finger dramatically. "Is your magic crest damaged?! Let me see it!"

Archer materialized beside Saber, and took in the scene.

Shirou was on his back with his shirt undone, holding himself partially upright with his hands and staring at Rin.

Rin was running her hands all over the other master's chest, muttering something about hidden marks and activation points.

Saber was staring at both of them stone faced, with her right hand gripping the air at her waist.

_Something was missing._

"I understand we're going to have to kill the other competitors eventually, but I think you might have misunderstood the way Grail Wars work, master. It's 'La grande morte', not 'La petite morte'."

Shirou sighed in relief as Rin's hands stopped roaming, then in pain as she suddenly wrenched them both upright and turned to face her Servant, who hadn't finished talking.

"I can understand your confusion, but not all of the masters in this war are going to be as pretty as Shirou and you are, and I do have standards."

The sight of her Servant standing beside Shirou's, his expression a perfect mirror of the shorter Servant's blank stare, was carefully ignored. She was just going to walk to the workshop in the yard, and forget the whole thing ever-

"Though, to be perfectly honest, I don't think I'd be comfortable with you participating in any case." He frowned. "You just aren't… You're too young for me to be entirely comfortable. But I'm sure you'll be a lovely lady in a few years!" He comforted. "You're just too young for that kind of thing right now."

Rin turned around, and Shirou stepped behind Saber. _that might have been too much for even Tohsaka to handle_. Her eyes were shadowed, and she raised a hand in a gesture he found somehow threatening. "No. More." she ground out.

"I understand perfectly. As you gain more experience, that kind of thing won't be a-" He stopped. "Alright. No more."

"Good." She straightened her skirt. "Now. Em- Shirou. I didn't see a magic crest at any of the normal points. Where is it?"

Shirou seemed to wilt, and his arms found their way around Saber without thought. "On my father's body, in the cemetery, but it couldn't be transferred. During the last war, during the end he'd gotten all the way to the Grail, and it spilled on him."

"It rotted his magic circuits away, and he died just a few years later."

XIXI

Lancer broke another pew, and fed the dimming fire with a largish piece. "This's been great. No worrying about who's from where. No women after him. Just companionship, good food, excellent booze, and idle chat. He hadn't felt this laid back in a long time.

His friend brought out another bottle of… whatever it was, and opened it, taking a sip. "I have to admit, this is a first. I've never had to approach another as an equal. I'm King, true, but so is she." He changed the topic. . "I don't think she noticed."

"What? How would she have missed that? We wrote the thing in thirty foot tall letters in the sky." Lancer scoffed, and began laying strips of meat on a metal grill over the flames.

"Perhaps," Gilgamesh mused into his bottle, "She was looking the wrong way."

"Didn't think of that." Neither spoke for a while, the only sounds the crack of the fire and the sizzling meat. "You know, it'll be dark soon. Why don't you go see if you can find her, you know. Tell her in person."

"Would that be wise? We didn't part on the best of terms."

"You should apologize, that usually works. Best choice would be getting a bard and commissioning something about her, though. Saved my hide a few times with my teacher."

The gold-clad Servant rose, and stretched his arms out over him. "I think I'll do that. I'll sweep her off her feet, profess my most profound regret, and offer to show her around the gardens." He cast his gaze over the domed and gilded shape sitting nearby and walked towards it. Well, if being subtle didn't work…"

"I thought you weren't subtle?" Cu Chulainn called after him.

The King of Heroes turned and smirked. "And now I'm going to be obvious."


	3. Chapter 3

Yay! Counter Guardians!

XIXI

It wasn't dark out yet, but the trees' canopy made a shade that deepened the shadows. There was a shadow in the woods that was never cast by a tree, nor an animal. This shadow cast itself, and it was lurking near the east border of Fuyuki city, waiting.

Sooner or later one of the two would leave.

A golden dart rose into the air above the clearing, and swept into the city proper in a blur of motion. Good. It was time.

The darkness rose into black robes bordered in flames that covered every inch of the sorcerer save his face and hands, which he raised to face the gutted building.

XIXI

Lancer tipped back the last of the bottle. Was that it? Oh well, Gilgamesh would be back with his lady-friend soon, and he'd gladly give another bottle to his good friend the Lancer of-Magic!

He dropped the bottle and snatched up his spear, dodging under the bolt of black fire. Caster! It had to be. "Well, it looks like I'm going to get a decent fight today after all. I was a little disappointed with my previous master, to be honest. He wouldn't let me kill anybody." He taunted. Where is he?

"I can understand why you didn't want to fight both of us, but really, I think you might have been better off finding somebody else to ambush. Magic users don't tend to have much luck with me." There was a horizontal arc of the unusual flames sweeping across the clearing from the woods. He leapt over it and sprinted towards the attack's origin, a tall man in dark clothing standing at the border, moving his hands in arcane patterns.

"Ha!" The Irish hero thrust his spear forward, forcing the Caster to abandon the pattern he was weaving to dodge sideways, turning to keep Lancer in his sight. This was what he was made for! Speed beyond measure bursting from all corners, Cu Chulainn harried the slower Servant, driving him out of the cover in the woods and into the open.

With his speed, magic resistance, and Gae Bolg, this battle could end only one way. Victory!  
Lancer gritted his teeth in a savage grin as he drove his opponent back, Hawaiian shirt billowing out behind him like a half-cape. This was almost too easy! His Instinct flared, and his eyes widened in sudden realization, as he spun out of the way of the Caster's sudden attack, barely dodging the bolt of darkness that had been launched at him.

There was no build up, and he'd barely heard the whispered chanting. It was a one verse, two verse at most, magical attack. "That was pretty clever." Lancer said as he brushed his hair off his forehead. "Luring me in close, then trying to get me while I couldn't dodge. It won't be enough, but I think I'm starting to enjoy this!" He laughed a short, barking laugh at his opponent, who hadn't moved during his speech.

He closed again, holding Gae Bolg by the middle of the haft and spinning it like a staff, before slamming the blade home in the Caster's gut. "Show me what you're made of!" Lancer roared, before Caster raised his arms again and a pool of bubbling darkness grew at his feet.

Lancer brought the blade of his spear to his lips, only to pause. Where was the blood? Distracted, he almost didn't notice the Caster's next movement. He was… charging into arms' reach?

Cu Chulainn warded off the flurry of blows easily, though, and stood back cockily. He spread his arms wide. "It's no use, I've got your measure now Caster. Unless you can pull out another trick, there's no way you can possibly-"

FWOOSH!

A burst of black fire, outlined in red, impacted on Lancer's chest, knocking him down. "AAAAGH!" Lancer screamed, the fire spreading quickly over his chest and burning the ground below him as he thrashed.

"Dammit!" The blue-haired Irishman swore, continuing wildly as he stood back upright. "You ruined my shirt!" He pulled the ruined shirt, and inspected it critically. "I knew I should have put EIhwaz on it." Turning to face his opponent, Cu Chulainn smirked. "I'm afraid magic just won't work on me. Between my Magic Resistance and the runes I've put on my armor you don't have much of a chance of even scratching me."

He shrugged and pulled up a corner of his mouth to give a wry grin. "Though it doesn't look like you're all that inconvenienced. Most people don't deal very well with having a spear shoved in their guts."

Caster just stood there, his face hidden in the shadows of his hood.

"Well, if you're going to just stand there, I'm going to end this quickly. You don't seem to be as fun to fight as I thought. Ansuz." Cu Chulainn made a jerky movement with his spear, tracing an image in blue light in the air, before he jabbed his spear.

"Gae Bolg."

Thirty iron spines erupted through Caster's body. Gae Bolg sunk deep into his heart. It flew through the air. The spear flew from Lancer's hand. Causality righted itself.

Lancer's face fell, and the savage light left his eyes as he went to reclaim his weapon. "I hate it when this happens." He gave a it a tug, but Gae Bolg stayed rooted in its victim. "I'm going to have to cut you out, aren't I? Now where did I put that knife?"

Three triangles of light flared into existence on the fallen Servant's left hand, before one dimmed until it barely glowed.

Lancer felt a hand around his ankle. "Caidé atá?!"

Caster rose back to his feet, ignoring the cursed spear lodged in his heart and holding Cu Chulainn by his ankle. Without a word, the robed figure swung him into an oak tree. Once, twice, three times, Lancer met the ancient tree with back breaking force, before he broke through on the fourth.

Struggling for air, Lancer heaved himself back to his feet, ready to meet his opponent.

The Servant had taken off his robes, revealing the black armor he was wearing beneath, complete with the holes Gae Bolg had punched in it. He had olive skin with a greenish tint, a roman nose, and flaming red hair. Gae Bolg was gone, and he'd pulled a long jagged sword from somewhere.

Lancer drew his knife. "I don't suppose you're from Ulster, are you?"

Using speed he hadn't shown previously, Caster blurred, leaving a trail of fire behind him as he closed. His sword broke Lancer's knife and carved through his neck in one blow.

"One down."

XIXI

"Shinji walked through the Matou mansion's dark corridors, lord of all he surveyed, a magus of the highest caliber. His immaculately pressed white dress shirt was tucked into his delicately rumpled slacks. His blue hair was carefully styled to make it look as though it wasn't styled at all. A book, which certainly wasn't the only thing that allowed him to participate in the Fifth Grail War, was held firmly in his left had while his right rested daintily on the handle of a door.

The great mage thought long and hard for all of ten seconds (the longest time he'd devoted to such an activity for quite some time), before he decided on a course of action. He would brave the serpent's wrath once more, trespassing where he was neither welcome, not liable to survi-"

The creak of the door opening interrupted the violet-haired Servant's recitation, and she closed her eyes. A jagged red line was etched on her brow, and an ornate sleeping mask lay discarded on the floor beside the roaring fireplace.

"Rider! Where the hell were you?" Her master barked. "I told you to wait for me at home; why didn't you present yourself to me?"

"I didn't want to leave the fireplace," Rider said. "It was so warm, so useful, that I couldn't bear to leave." She was sitting with her back to the door, so she allowed her lips to quirk upwards. Heavy footsteps thumped from the door to directly behind the overstuffed armchair she was lounged in.

"I think you're not putting enough effort into this, Servant!" Shinji seethed, hands clenched into impotent fists. "So I think I'm going to have to take some compensation!"

The woman in the chair didn't even twitch, and Shinji reached out and grabbed hold of the sides of it. "Face your betters when they speak, you piece of…" His voice trailed off, and Rider knew he'd seen the facemask on the floor.

She gave another smile. "You want me to turn around, master? You want me to -face- you?"

"We- we- put your mask back on."

She watched the faint shadow the electric light from the hallway cast on the ground in front of her. _So close._His shadow's hands reached back to rejoin the rest of it.

Shinji collected himself. "We're going out. Sakura's missing, and grandfather wants her found. I trust you can find her?"

Rider turned, ignoring her master instinctively averting his gaze. Her mask was back in place. "I will find her. Where was she last seen?"

"Shirou's place."

"Very well. Lead the way." _I hope you know what you've gotten yourself into Sakura, because I'd prefer at least two of us to._

XIXI

Click-clack. Click-clack. Click-clack.

Sensible leather shoes step lightly on pavement, carrying a body far to young for the mind it holds. She doesn't resent much about her lot in life, but she wishes, as she walks down the dark street, back to the Einzbern mansion, that she were taller.

Click-clack. Click-clack. Click-clack.

She isn't alone, one of the reasons for that wish was beside her, invisible to the outside world, grim-faced, and ready for battle. Heracles dwarfed his master.

His biceps dwarfed his master.

Click-clack. Click-clack. Click-clack.

He was silent on the asphalt. Curiously, skin harder then a foot of solid steel didn't make ringing noises when it touched things. Illya von Einzbern discarded the line of thought she was on. What was the use of it?

She hadn't met any of the other Servants or masters this evening, but they'd stopped by the ice cream shop near the park, so it wasn't a total loss. Her Servant materialized, grabbing her by the shoulder and pulling her back behind him. A ringing voice echoed through the air above her, and she turned to see what Berserker had apparently spotted first.

"You seem familiar, like I've seen you before. Not you, your master." He was clad from neck down in golden plate, with the body extending down to his thighs in an armored skirt, from which hung a scarlet sheet that billowed dramatically in the updraft from his…

There was a triangular nose that extended out of a central section, with a throne at the peak. Emerald wings, like a dragonfly's, arced forward and back from the sides, and glowed with inner light. A low humming echoed throughout the air, easily mistakable for the sound of a car passing nearby. It was hovering twenty feet overhead, and thirty feet in front of her.

The golden man was standing in front of the throne, on top of his… Airship. He cocked his head to the side, ignoring Heracles as he raised fists the size of Illya's torso. "Did I know your mother, perhaps? You have a certain similarity to a woman I saw then years ago."

Illya couldn't feel any great amount of Prana coming off of him, but his mount seemed to be practically made of the stuff. Was it a projection? That would make this mystery man a magus of extreme power. Most Archmagi couldn't even project working machinery, let alone something on a complexity of this scale. No, on second thought it couldn't be projection. It felt different, somehow.

She'd never even heard of anyone who could project a flying machine with his Prana. Whoever he was, he must have somehow created a new, more powerful, branch of the school. "Berserker," she ordered. "Take him alive. I want to find out how what he's doing is different. It isn't normal projection. He doesn't seem to have much magic, though, so go easy on him."

Her Servant didn't take his eyes off the newcomer, who was smirking as if he knew a private joke. "Are you sure master? My Instinct tells me that he's a threat." He had crouched down, and had both arms trailing the ground behind him.

"Then kill him." Illya shrugged. "I'll learn enough from his magic crest."

"Ahahahahah!" The man on the golden airship evidently couldn't contain himself any longer, laughing bent over, with his hands on his knees and his blond hair flopping down to cover his eyes.

"Oh look at you! So precious, so sure!" He stood back up, and straightened his circlet. "I remember now, you're Irisviel von Einzbern's child, aren't you?"

Illyaviel von Einzbern gasped, her hand flying to her mouth, and she stared wide-eyed at the stranger. "How did you…"

"It was obvious, really." The golden man shrugged, and stepped off his mount, the sharp drop seemingly not effecting him in the least. "You have the same eyes and face, and only the Einzbern family homunculi have that shade of hair. Besides that," he looked her up an down pointedly. "Only the vessel of the current Grail would have an internal magical structure like _that_."

His look shifted to one of pity, before he continued, not giving Illya a chance to ask awkward questions. "I knew her. I saw her die."

"Do-" Illya swallowed, and realized that sometime during the conversation Berserker had relaxed, allowing her to stand in front of him. "Do you know who killed her?"

"I do, and I saw him die just last night. Do you want me to show you?" He held out his hand.

The small girl, really a woman, took it with a smile. "I would."

XIXI

The church was deserted.

Gilgamesh chuckled, and turned to look at the odd pair that had followed him there. The little homunculus/hybrid girl and her _most_formidable Servant. His bulging muscles, animalistic fervor, and keen eyes suffered only a slight reduction of the intimidation value when the observer also saw the white-haired albino riding on his shoulders.

The way she clung to him, the way the Servant made sure he wasn't a threat before allowing Illya out from behind him, why, Gilgamesh could almost feel the drama! After the War was over, he decided, he needed to find a new hobby.

Lying around drinking and talking were all well and good, but he was sure his sparkling wit was going to suffer. Lancer just didn't have much to talk about that wasn't weapons, war, or women. "If you'll follow me, I didn't move the mongrel's body. The flies can take it for all I care, and he'd doubtless poison any crows that dared try him."

Illya's face was almost as stony as her Servant's as she asked, "Did you kill him?"

"No." Gilgamesh shook his head. "I didn't. You see, he'd killed another magus to get her control seals and Servant. I don't know why, he told me he didn't have a wish."

The giant Servant spoke, a deep, rumbling voice. "He probably just wanted the power. Most who kill do, in the end."

"Yes." Gilgamesh pushed open the sanctuary door, and pointed to the ground at his feet. "There he lies, dead as his victims. Kotomine Kirei, may his entrails be eaten by worms." He brightened visibly and clapped his hands. "But come on then! It's been a while since I've had guests of any sort, and my friend Lancer's surely...let the…" He sniffed the air, "meat burn?"

He gave an overdramatic sigh and turned around, walking back outside and around the church to the clearing behind it. "I swear, he said he could cook. Don't worry I'll just pull out some more Bull of Heaven and lay it out. It'll be done-"

He stopped dead in his tracks as he rounded the last corner.

There ground was covered in ashes, the fire was out, there were impact craters all across the lawn, a tree was knocked over, there was blood on the ground, a faint flickering of black/red fire flared from an immolated tree by the edge of the forest, there were _two_sets of footprints on the ground.

Lancer was gone.

There was a single set of deep footprints (Lancer's) near the fire pit. He'd jumped away. The church had a slash of soot across the stone walls. The walls were slightly melted from the heat, and the stained glass window that had been nearby was melted through.

That meant Lancer had dodged that attack, since the line on the wall was otherwise uninterrupted. The fire had come from the other side of the fire, Lancer had dodged, the flames had hit the wall. That meant the attacker, probably Caster, had been by the broken tree.

Gilgamesh followed the flow of the battle with his eyes, Heracles silently doing the same a few steps behind him, moving more slowly because of his lack of foreknowledge of either combatants or the terrain.

He'd closed with his foe for a time, managing to harry the opposing Servant and keep the offensive, but then… Gilgamesh felt a feeling he hadn't felt in a long while. It was like a giant had wrapped its hands around his stomach and was squeezing him, stopping him from properly breathing.

The golden Servant saw a marred outline in one of the craters, he'd been hit! But Lancer seemingly recovered nearly instantly, after shedding his shirt. His tracks just as quick and light as ever. He'd stopped again, taking a firm stance to prepare from, and then they stopped making sense.

"That must mean he used Gae Bolg." He muttered at the sight of the nonsensical footprints. He'd struck home, and the leaves on the ground were disturbed by a colossal figure, almost as large as the little girl's Servant.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Lancer had obviously killed the other Servant, which had dissolved into nothing on its death.

But that didn't explain the damaged tree, or the way the overlarge footprints, not the Servant's he'd brought back- he'd checked, resumed their path towards Lancer's retreating ones, nor the way Lancer's suddenly stopped, just as the second set reached him.

The pit in his gut sunk deeper, and Gilgamesh turned to face the toppled tree, where there was a much smaller, deeper, man-shaped depression.

With a sword cut through where the neck had landed.

"No." The King of Heroes stared disbelieving at the depression in the rock, and the slight scrapes that showed how his new friend had nearly dragged himself upright before he was beheaded.

He turned to face his guests, and spoke in a soft, steely tone that both recognized traces of. "Excuse me. I have to go do something… unsubtle." At the final word, he leapt straight up into the air, landing on a golden and emerald airship that hadn't been there before his feet touched it.

He vanished from sight with a crack of displaced air.

"What are you waiting for?" Illya shouted into Berserker's ear. "Go after him!"

And then the church, the clearing, and the nearby woods were all empty, and the night was still.

XIXI

His target was fast, but Gilgamesh had one advantage he lacked. Vimana.

He sped through the forest at near the speed of light, easily widening the gap between him and his pursuers and narrowing the lead his quarry had. As he flew, he drew a single spear from the Gate of Babylon.

Gae Bolg was descended from Brionac, the spear that slew Balor of the Evil Eye, and Gungnir, Odin's all-slaying spear itself. Gilgamesh had a similar weapon in his vault, but it was far greater.

Bel Halqu. 'Lord of the Loss '. It was a spear with three cutting edges on a simple, thin, straight blade. The first weapon forged by the first dwarf to put hammer to nail and put that blade on a shaft, before even the creation of armor beyond fur and ring. It was small for a spear, a mere four feet of haft. His knuckles were wrapped around it near the head and middle, and a lesser spear would have broken under the pressure his bone-white fingers put on it.

It was cursed by ages of pain and blood, and could not be taken from its wielder's hand until it had slain another.

As he drew in sight of the large, dark, figure the King of Heroes lowered the point.

And charged.  
The cloaked figure's head split in two like an egg hit with the blade of a knife. The skull was clove in half from ear to ear, and the Servant fell to the ground with a thud.

Gilgamesh dismounted Vimana, letting it return to the vault, and stalked forwards, stopping at the first sign of movement. A burst of light came from the downed Servant's left hand, before fading, leaving only two golden triangles, side by side.

Then the corpse was moving, standing back up with its head obscured by a clinging film of a black substance. "Ambush. It's been a while since that's worked, usually the hero challenges me to a dual." He gave a shrug. "But that doesn't matter, does it."

A burst of black fire lit Gilgamesh's vision, and he was forced to leap back wildly to avoid the sudden cut of steel that arced in from the side. The sickle coming to rest at the end of the pole his target had materialized, forming a crescent bladed halberd with long red tassels hanging from it. The red matched its owners glowing eyes.

"In the end, only important people matter. You have to make your mark on the world, leave a legacy that none can deny, or else they'll twist you and warp your actions with words and second guesses after you die."

Gilgamesh gritted his teeth. "That seems like your problem, mongrel. My name is Gilgamesh, King of Heroes, and everyone with proper learning in even this day and age knows my name! Hear me, and know that I will sully my blades with your misbegotten blood again and again before this night is through!"

The golden Servant leapt forwards, swinging Bel Halqu again and again to keep the Caster on the defensive, not allowing him any time to recover from his first attack. Gilgamesh was not the master of the lance like Cu Chulainn was, but his the spear he wielded cared not.

It was the original spear that killed without consideration, the first that cared not for the skill of strength of its opponents. It was swung, so it struck home.

That is not to say the fight was one sided, far from it. After the first flurry of blows he noticed his weapon was not having anywhere near the effect it should have been. Wounds that pierced muscle didn't bleed, the legendary spear failed to sink as deeply into flesh as it should have, given that no armor opposed it, and the dark Caster had managed to block at least half of his strikes with that curious bladed-

Where was the blade?

Gilgamesh once again barely dodged the incoming projectile as it flew back to its mount. He leapt back into the fray, eyes bright with bloodlust and barely contained rage, but his opponent had taken advantage of his lapse.

The Caster flipped his robes over his head and threw then in Gilgamesh's face, blocking his sight for a critical instant.

_Whump!_

A stony fist slammed into the breastplate of Gilgamesh's armor, which barely held back the tremendous blow. The other fist was not impeded, slamming into the gap under the King of Heroes' right arm, and throwing him onto his side, breathless.

As he lay there, in the dirt and damp leaves, struggling to get his breath back, Gilgamesh gave a pained smile as his opponent loomed over him.

"My name is Ganondorf, King of Evil."

Gilgamesh's smile grew more pronounced as he took his feet once more. "As a general rule, Noble Phantasms require their name to be spoken, in order for them to take effect. Mine don't, but I'll give you the privilege this once, filth."

"Fling wide the gate of my Golden Capitol. Open, my Gate of Babylon!"

The air rippled behind him as countless weapons passed through an invisible membrane, and hung in the air silently behind their master. "This," Gilgamesh spread his arms wide, "is my Gate. I hope you like how it looks, because I think I'll store your spear there, alongside all my other trophies."

The dark Servant took three measured steps back, holding his long halberd in his right hand, and working his left in the air before him, writing burning runes in the air that settled into the ever-present pool of shadows at his feet.

Gilgamesh paused for a moment at a sudden headache, his knowledge of the Universal Language barely translating the odd script. "...Calls his servants, calls his army… Forgotten warriors..." He shook his head clear and scowled at the Servant before him. "I've had quite enough of elder things, now be a good mongrel and die."

Weapons burst forth from the air around him, coated in glowing coronas of prana as the struck before Ganondorf finished his incantation. Gut, left thigh, right bicep, right lung, the phantasmal missiles struck home, but the vast majority were deflected when their target's right arm flared with power, jerking from side to side and knocking them out of the air.

The dark Servant continued his spell, at an even faster pace. Flares of expelled Prana speeding his writing until all Gilgamesh could understand from it was a dull rush of nonsense.

Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes. Prana Burst? He had to end this. Now. With a mental command and a flip of his wrist he began to expand the Gate, turning the trickle of weapons flying through the air into a downpour of blazing steel.

Ganondorf finished his writing an instant later. The final arcane symbol sank into he ground beneath him. Even as the rain of weapons from the Gate of Babylon began to intensify, a dark armored hand clawed its way out of the loamy ground.

It was joined by another, then another. More and more hands reached out of the darkness and clutched at the solid ground. The hands gave way to similarly armored arms, then to full-visored helmets, slabs of black plate covering torsos with black steel and golden trim. Knee high boots of similar make reached up to meet the underlying chain.

There were fifty standing in ranks of five behind their summoner, each as tall has he, joined by more each passing second. The ranks were broken by a single knight in heavier red armor, standing bordered by two of the rank-and-file in the front row. Their circular shields bore an emblem that looked at first to be a falling bird or tree. Their swords were a full four feet long, and six inches thick, but they angled out at the tip to form an axe-like head.

The red one, the captain, lowered his sword, and the flood of knights charged their target not twenty feet away, their only obstacle a hail of death.

Phantasms embedded themselves on their upraised shields, some stopped by armor that had never been breached, some passing straight through without pause.

Gilgamesh swore as he raised his hand to block a sword thrown at his head with pinpoint accuracy, and had to keep it there as more and more joined it, the knights that had thrown their weapons drawing their second, lighter, swords.

He growled, "Enough!" and opened his Gate nearly all the way, a nearly solid wall of legendary blades carving through his plate-clad enemies in an instant. Armor rang as it collapsed, empty, to the forest floor.  
Gilgamesh threw his spear through an oak tree to his left, knocking the shield from the hand of the knight in red armor, before it stepped into the shadows and vanished. Gilgamesh frowned. "Where did he go?"

XIXI

"I don't think that's a good idea." A dry London voice spoke up in the gloom. "That's trapped."

The target of his warning, a tall, broad shouldered woman with eyes that shone blue in the half-light, gave a huff of irritation. "If I don't get out soon I'm going to start breaking things." It shouldn't have been an intimidating phrase. Her voice was playful, lilting, and that should have taken all the sting out of her words.

Holmes shivered in barely suppressed dread, and smiled at her over the book he was reading, _End of the Time Before_, by the Sage of Earth. It's a fascinating book, and you'd find it more informative if you were to take the time to read it."

"What."

"I said that, if you read this, it would be helpful. I don't know how, but it would." He closed the thin book and tossed it onto the chair next to her. "Really, Hook. I don't know what it is that confused you about that."

"The title." She hissed, narrowing her blue eyes, like gemstones. "What is the title, and stop playing around, something's wrong with this mission. Don't act like you don't feel it."

"It's called, _The End of the Time Before_. I think you'd like it. It has a wonderful villain." The man leaned over, flipping the book open with a sharp gesture before returning to examining the bookshelf.

The pages, curiously white for such an old book, fluttered in the breeze coming down the empty fireplace, revealing a full page painting of a man in richly embroidered red and black robes, with a squared off face and a noble nose. The only clue as to his size was the smaller man in green standing in front of him, meeting his sword with his own.

"Doesn't look like much. Who's the codfish?" Hook brushed her hair off to the side as she sat down heavily in the overstuffed chair, peering intently at the runes covering the page around the figures.

"That," Holmes answered without turning, "would be the Hero. It doesn't give him any other name. Turn the page." He heard the scrape of moving paper as he ran his fingers along the spines of the books on the shelf, staring at nothing. "It's the same people, isn't it."

"Yes." Hook croaked, stroking her hook over the similar people, on a different page, and labeled with a different set of dates. "I can tell. They've got the same souls. Any ideas, smart man? Because even I know that kind of thing doesn't happen on a lark."

"I do have a few," The detective admitted, "But I needed you to confirm for me. It'd be interesting to find out for sure if I'm right, but," He paused, and made sure his volatile colleague was further away from the door than he was. "It isn't relevant right now."

Hook stiffened, and carefully put the book down on a nearby table. With slow, deliberate, movements, she pulled an ornate pistol out of a pocket on her long red coat. "Sherlock."

"Yes Hook?"

"I'm going to count to ten, and then I'm going to shoot you."

As the door clicked shut, the Pirate's red lips twisted into a savage grin. _finally_, something to do. "One. Five. Ten."

XIXI

Berserker burst out of the woods like a cannonball, Illya riding his shoulders with his hair held like makeshift reigns. She pouted, cutely, as she took in the scene. "Mou, we missed all the fun."

The man in the golden armor was standing in the open, head bowed and eyes closed. The soil was turned over in a wide swath in front of him, mirroring the lack of trees in the newly made clearing. Berserker carefully set his master down with one giant hand before he asked, "What happened?"

"The filth got away." the blond replied listlessly, without turning his head.

"Do you want" Berserker began to take a step forward, hand raised, but he was interrupted.

"I want to be left alone."

Illya chose that moment to speak up, causing her Servant to stiffen. "I'm bored. Berserker, I want to see a fight." She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes as she addressed the other man. "I hope you can put up a good one, because this War's been nothing but a disappointment so far! I haven't had a chance to see little brother, I haven't gotten to see Berserker kill anybody, and now I feel weird."

Gilgamesh still refused to respond.

"I can't help two of those things," She muttered, "but the second one I can. Berserker, my wonderful Servant."

"Yes, little master?"

"Kill him."

"I said." Gilgamesh turned around to face the two of them.

"I want."

"To be left."

"**_Alone._**"

XIXI

The lead ball splintered the bannister behind him as Holmes leapt down the stairs. He hadn't gotten enough of a head start and Hook had snapped. Again.

It was one of the dangers of not being entirely real, having your legend reshaped by widespread belief. Recently he'd come upon a sudden fondness of deerstalker caps himself, and he had no real idea why. Interesting, but not what was occupying the majority of his mental processes at the moment.

Hook was trying to kill him, probably. She might just be playing, but he found it more likely she'd decided that she wanted to. It was bad form, certainly, but it was so very Hook. He slipped through an open door in the hall, another study. Time to try pleading.

"If you'd listen for just _one_more moment, I could tell you something you-"

Hook kicked the open door off its hinges. Bursting into the room in a red blur she slammed her hook into the wall, pinning Holmes' shadow in place. "I'm going to give you one chance, Cambridge man. Tell me what I want to hear. Where's the poor, lost, misbegotten, scurrilous soul that required the deployment of such underhanded folks as we?"

"The map, my dear Pirate, is impaled on your hook."


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** Here's the next instilment of Fate/Stay Hijacked, brought to you by gibbousmoons (the author). Just be warned, I tend to think superpowered fights should end decisively within the first minute, unless both sides are perfectly matched.

When you throw around power like Berserker, Saber, Gilgamesh, and Ganondorf do, things can get ugly real quick. The good news is that everyone has trump cards, the bad news is that some trumps are broken, and some are really broken.

XIXI

XIXI

Shirou woke up on the third day of the Grail War and stretched. His muscles hurt from the workout he'd gotten last night, but he ignored them. He'd read about the Fourth Grail War, he'd even seen part of it firsthand- a glimpse through the fire, but he hadn't really understood the gap between Servant and mortal before.

His Servant, who was standing at the foot of his bed, staring at him. "I'll be waiting in the hall." She said as she walked out of his room, closing the door behind her. Shirou shivered. That was close. If he hadn't been too tired to undress last night…

He hadn't even seen Saber move last night, she'd been so fast. One second they were bowing to each other, and the next he was on the ground. He wanted to help everyone, the normal people who might get caught up in the war, but what could he do? He wasn't strong enough, wasn't skilled enough, to fight a Servant head on, and he didn't have the magical ability to compensate.

After cleaning himself Shirou stepped into the kitchen and started preparing for breakfast. Wash hands. Large pot, small pot, cutting boards, medium and small knife, ingredients. Saber have a quiet huff of air. On second thought, he doubled the amount of food he was making, and his Servant gave him a small nod.

He picked up a small, well-worn book that rested on the stand a lesser cook would use to hold recipe books. The writing on the spine marked it as one of his adoptive father's journals, one he'd been using as an introduction to magecraft for his son, when he'd realized his own magic circuits were decaying. He and Saber were the only ones up. Tohsaka was apparently a late riser, so he opened it to the first page.

He muttered, "The sword is pulled," as he imagined his trigger. He closed his eyes to imagine the wide-bladed sword being revealed as it cleared its scabbard. His mental hand grasped the blue wrappings on the hilt, and he heard a buzzing in his inner ear, like he could almost hear something, a name.

He activated his magic circuits to their full extent. Twenty-seven brimming with Od, each unit of Od supplemented by the Prana in the air around him. "You should need a top up now, right?" He asked his Servant. "How do I do that?"

Saber narrowed her eyes a fraction. "That is not necessary. One of my abilities is a unique Prana Core, which allows me to create my own Prana, given a sufficient starting amount. I will _not _require a Prana transfer ritual."

Rin woke up in a strange place, with the feel of gathering Prana in the air. It took her a second to wake up, during which Archer appeared at the foot of the bed. "Master, you have clean clothes from your house on the bedside table." She gave him a bleary gaze. "I'll just leave you alone then. Shirou's making breakfast now."

As he left, Rin got dressed. She still didn't know who her Servant was, and that was bothering her. She felt she should be able to recognize him, but couldn't place his face. Before she fell asleep she'd even considered that Emiya was a future version of Emiya Shirou, but that was ridiculous. Her Servant didn't look anything like the Magus Killer.

She walked into the kitchen just in time to hear her host ask, "What's a Prana transfer ritual?" The redhead turned to face her. "Rin, you're a more experienced magus, so could you show me how it works?"

Rin looked at Saber.

Saber gave a solemn nod, before shrugging.

Rin took a long look at Shirou. Nice hair, good cook, didn't mind doing housework, terrible talent at magecraft, but the Prana flow from earlier had come from him. She stopped that line of thought and shook her head. Now was not the time to think about things like that. "Maybe after the Grail War, if you're still alive. You'll have to really impress me first, though."

Archer's face slammed into the floor with a loud THUD.

Breakfast was served fifteen minutes later, during which Shirou and Rin engaged in small talk. "Who raised you, Tohsaka? Are they all right with you taking part in the Grail War?"

"Kotomine Kirie raised me after my father died. I'm glad he's dead." Rin replied.

Shirou frowned at that. "That seems a little harsh. You shouldn't wish ill of people."

"If you knew him…" She trailed off, before asking, "We'd be a strong team, allied. Our Servants have complementing skills. First, though, why are you in this War?"

"I want to save people." He said, scraping his fork across his plate absently.

Saber swallowed the last of her omelet, and set her plate to the side, causing the others to face her. "Are you sure you can do that?" Her voice was hard and unfeeling, with an undertone of steel to her words. "I knew warriors who's fame grew great as their deeds grew greater. Not one of them faltered until the very end, when fate itself seemed to conspire against them, and everyone they stood for suffered. Their hearts broke, in the end, under the weight of their duty."

"Even if you succeed," Archer said heavily, as if with great thought, "you may regret it."

Rin glanced at him. "Have you?"

"A little more, yes." The red Archer nodded to his rumpled master. "This topic has stirred memories, but I wish it hadn't. You may even succeed, Shirou. If you do, if you save everyone, how will you know who to save? It's so easy to save someone, only to find out later you made the wrong choice, that you've done the works of evil, that the bargains you made to get the power you need to help others only damned humanity further and further."

Emiya the Counter Guardian looked at Emiya Shirou. "What will you do then?"

Shirou didn't answer at once. He thought for a moment first, then said, "I've read my father's journals. I know it won't end well." He muttered, "I know what battle is like. I have nightmares, sometimes, where all I do is kill people so other people can survive. But I think that's worth it. I may not be able to save everyone, that's a childish dream, but I can save _some_ people, and that'd be worth it. I think."

Saber leaned forward, her forehead creased in thought and her blue eyes unfocused as she remembered a blood-stained field. "And what if you find out that, by being a hero, you've stopped someone else from taking up a greater destiny? What if you stop someone from being a better hero than you were?"

"I think", Shirou simply said, "that being a hero is a choice, and if you let someone take that choice away from you, then you wouldn't have been very good at the job anyways. You know?"

"...Yes. I think I do." Saber smiled at him.

Archer stayed silent.

"Well I have no idea what any of you were talking about." Rin declared. "I'm going to the take a bath, and when I come back we'll figure out how to win this Grail War. Archer…" She took in the morose look on her Servant's face. "We can talk later."

She'd forgotten.

She'd forgotten the bright eyes of someone who truly believed in helping others at any cost.

It had been so long since she'd seen that fervor, that desire. Aglovale, Agravane, Bagdemagus, Bedivere, Bors, Breunor, Cadorius, Calogrenant, Caradoc the Younger, Constantine III, Dagonet, Dinadan, Elyan, Erac, Esclabor, Feirefiz, Gaheris, Galahad, Galehault, Galeschin, Gareth, Gawain, Garaint, Gingalain, the Green Knight, Griflet, Hector, Hywel, Kay, Lamorak, Lancelot, Lanval, Leodegrance, Lionel, Lucan, Morholt, Morian, Owain, Palamedes, Pellias, Pellinore, Percival, Safir, Sagramor, Tor, Tristan, Urien, and Ywain, all knights sworn to a sacred duty.

Some died, some were not what they seemed. The Green Knight had never removed his helm, much like… Much like the Traitor. Was it true? Would they have been better off without her?

She knew for a fact Lancelot wouldn't have, that brave, selfish, noble knight. He'd go on a grand quest, even if it wasn't for the Holy Grail. He'd probably even sleep with the King's wife, provided she was Guinevere.

Kay would never have been satisfied if he were not at court. His tongue was too sharp to lay dormant in a remote castle minding the land.

Pellias' pursuit of the Questing Beast would have led him to cross paths with the others eventually.

Bedivere, Owain, Bors, none of the other knights would have lain dormant and protected their own. The Round Table would have formed no matter what, she realized, and it would have fallen eventually, even without her failure.

That it had lasted as long as it had… Did that mean she was a good king? Was she the best King? Surely anyone who could have governed better would have said spoken up, tried to advise her.

So… Was there was no better choice? Was she the best King that could have reigned?

She needed to think about this.

It hurt to remember.

It hurt for him to remember failing.

He'd won! He'd stopped the Grail Wars, saved all the lives that would have been snuffed out by the monstrous practice throughout the ages, but…

It hadn't been enough. He'd worked for ten long years, saving the world with his friends. His Arturia had passed on to Avalon, Rin had gone on to the Clock Tower, and he knew she was doing well before they came for him with the Sealing Designation.

After so long, after saving so many, that was the final straw.

They had sent a team of enforcers to take him in, to bind him and strip him of his freedom. They would stop him from helping others people. They would lock him away, where he'd never be free to roam the world and solve the problems that needed solving.

It wouldn't be Justice, the Clock Tower had lost that long ago. So he sent back the enforcers in pieces, and went on his way. There were precious few magi that could hurt him, fewer still that could find him in the modern world. At last, they'd chosen to lure him out, make him go to them.

He still remembered the grainy picture on the airport televisions. A man with a detonator was ranting, raving, screaming with bloodshot eyes that he'd blow up the high school he was in if he didn't see the man in the picture the terrorist was holding up.

It was him, Emiya Shirou. The reporter said the high school was on the other side of the continent. He'd never get there in time.

He knew about the Counter Guardians. He'd seen one from a distance. He knew the price they paid. He didn't hesitate.

He wished he had.

Emiya knew he'd made the wrong decision. All he had to do was fix it.

It wouldn't have been so bad, if all he had to do was save people forever. He could do that. He thought he knew the difference between good and evil men.

But sometimes, more and more often lately, he had to kill the innocent, to save more of the innocent. He always insisted on doing it himself, personally.

It wouldn't be right to just kill them out of hand, the children, the doctors, the selfless souls that only tried to help. They couldn't be allowed to know.

But they did know.

They died peacefully, every one of them, except for the ones who tried to run, tried to hide, tried to bargain, the old men and women who just wanted to know why, the young couples that never let go of each other, toddlers with glassy eyes and dribbling noses.

He couldn't do it. He had to do it himself. If he didn't, if he didn't do it personally, they'd have to be indiscriminate. He had to kill the innocent, to save the innocent, and it was killing _him._

He bent over the boy he'd found in the cupboard, small and soot-stained and wide-eyed, and asked him. "Do you want to be a superhero? Just close your eyes for a second, alright?"

As Caliburn, a twisted mockery of its former self, sank home, Emiya Shirou nearly cried.

"The rapist and the fallen god left." Hook's eyes flashed blue as she sank back down into the chair she'd pulled up to the window and asked, "When can we just get this over with?"

"All we're going to do is look around. We aren't going to kill anyone." Holmes stepped into the room, adjusting his tuxedo and false beard. The two Counter Guardians had appropriated a room near the Matou residence, and settled down to observe their target.

Hook's mouth twisted into a smirk as she swept the curtain across the window with her booted foot. "That's what you think."

"You gave your word."

"I swore on my mother's womb, yes. I made an _oath_ I'd help Emiya prove his philosophy to his younger self, thereby freeing him from the tormented afterlife he lives, yes?" Hook said it like a question, clearly intending Sherlock to realize something. He didn't disappoint.

"You mean that... when did you get a look at the boy? What was the divergence?" He closed the room's other curtain nearly all the way, a lone strip of light settling on the Pirate Queen, her black coat a darkness in the shadows.

"When I went to talk yesterday. He was making breakfast in the kitchen, and I saw him through the window. I could not doubt the principled evidence," She paused dramaticaly, raising her hook, "...of my own sharp eyes."

The room went quiet for a minute, then Holmes spoke up. "That's going to cause all kinds of problems. Do you- no. We shouldn't tell Emiya."

"Of _course not!_" Hook jeered, before she stepped forward, jerking her hook towards the house beyond the covered window. "Now are we going to kill it or not, Smee?"

Holmes waved her on towards the door with a courtly bow. There really was no reasoning with the lady when she was in her moods. He stepped up to the cracked curtain, peering through the gap. "She had the black coat on. This should be _interesting_."

The door slammed open, and Hook barged back in, pistol drawn and rapier at her waist swinging wildly. "Forgot something." She said sheepishly, before using her hook to snatch up a large, twine-wrapped package.

Holmes closed the door. "I suppose she was bored." He muttered indifferently.

Zouken had decided to have a snack. It wasn't that he didn't need to eat, no matter what those fools at the Academy thought, it was just that he didn't need to eat as often. He opened up the secret door in the pantry, entering the main house from his hidden rooms in the basement.

"The beer, where's the good beer? It's the only thing the bloody Einzberns are good for, and I can't even find it. Damn it all." He felt that odd pressure in the back of his head, like he'd forgotten something- someone, again, but he ignored it. So what if one of them was more useful than the rest? It didn't matter to him. It wouldn't make him immortal.

He opened the pantry door from the inside, making a mental note to make Shinji clean the whole room thoroughly if he didn't come back with the girl. You had to keep food hygienic, everyone knew that.

As much as he hated to admit it, his body was rotting. He couldn't properly materialize his soul to put it in his new body; that was why he needed the grail. What was it he'd said to wassername when they were young? First immortality, then the…. Long life?

His thoughts were interrupted by a package, wrapped in brown paper, smashing in the kitchen window, followed by a woman's brazen voice, sounding out like a trumpet's call. "Are you going to come out, you coward, or are you going to hide and hope I don't find you! ?" There was a crack, and a pistol shot splattered Matou Zouken's head against the far wall.

"I certainly hope that wasn't all it took to put you down, relic! I was hoping to get a chance to properly ventilate your mangy carcass!"

A mass of worms erupted from Zouken's stump, reforming his head, which now housed an annoyed grimace. But he knew how _this_ game was played, and back in his youth he'd been the best damn player there was. "I'm going to make you clean up the mess you made all over the wall, young lady!"

The door was kicked open, revealing a tall woman with thickly curling hair hanging down from her head like oily candles. She wore her black coat open, and her hat was oil-slicked. Despite this, the red feather on it was completely unsullied. She pointed her pistol at the old man. "I can clean up the mess, all right, but I think it might be best of me to finish what I'm doing first. Mother always told me to finish what I start, and it wouldn't make much sense of me to clean the same wall twice."

Matou Zouken drew himself up to his full height and thumped his cane on the floor in pantomime rage. "As soon as I finish with you, I'm going to find that beer I was looking for, and I'm going to get so drunk I won't even remember this pitiful display!"

"Ha!" The black-clad woman waved her hook from side to side and narrowed her shining blue eyes. "It won't take a lot to do that, you're swaying like a fresh hand in his first typhoon." She discretely slid a fresh cartridge in her gun and rammed it home with her hook.

"Were you threatening me with an empty pistol?"

"…Perhaps. The important thing is that it's loaded now."

The aged patriarch stared at the trespasser, and she stared back. They both seemed to know the game was over. They both spoke, simultaneously.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you."

Shirou held his practice sword in both hands before him, regarding her with a cool gaze not completely offset by the bruises adorning his body in great purple splotches. Saber held her wooden blade, an exact match to his, in nearly the same position he'd chosen, hilt low, blade extended steadily forward at an angle, ready to strike or parry with equal speed.

But he'd yet to touch her, for all his effort. Her master was only human, not a Heroic Spirit like she, and he'd yet to land a single blow against her. It wasn't surprising, for either of them. Still, Arturia thought, he fared well for a teenaged boy barely reaching into his manhood. When she'd been alive, there'd been a mere handful of warrior her equal, but her master, Shirou, seemed as if he was born to use a blade.

Like Tohsaka's Servant, Archer, he seemed to flow from movement to movement naturally and without pause. He was almost like Bedivere in his movements. He was economical, precise, almost perfect in his attacks, but without thought towards his own safety.

Her master's head cracked against the wooden shaft of her sword again, and he collapsed to the floor. He needed to keep his guard up! She shuddered to think of what he'd be like if this Taiga woman hadn't beaten him to a pulp daily in the name of swordplay.

It didn't matter how inspiringly he could talk if she'd gotten summoned by a magus _that couldn't defend himself._

Luckily, though, he had half of using a longsword down, even if he was terrible at magic. She had enough of a handicap in this war. Damn Shirou's meddlesome father. Damn the Fourth War. It had to be around here somewhere, there were only so many places the damned man could have hidden it!

The practice blade in her hand cracked, and its handle fell to the ground in chunks.

If Merlin could only see her now, he'd be so ashamed.

On second thought, he'd probably make a joke about genitalia, and offer to craft her a replacement.

Her master bowed to her, and she to him. He raised his sword to strike, but she backhanded his blade out of the way, before picking him up and tossing him over her shoulder. Shirou smacked into the wall audibly.

She had to win the Grail War, a wish was far to valuable an opportunity to pass up. What did she have that could make up for her… loss?

She had a competent master, always a plus. She had Invisible Air, but it was a joke of a Noble Phantasm for a Servant such as her, barely as powerful as her bare-handed strikes could be. She could use it to block, if needed, or redirect attacks that would harm her, so it wasn't useless. She could Prana Burst if needed, due to her Magical Core functioning correctly, giving her an even greater increase in speed.

She had an ally. Archer could make weapons. He couldn't recreate… that…. But he might be able to make something more powerful than D Rank for her to use if they were pressed.

Her master stood back up behind her, quickly raising his sword to strike. He'd forgotten there was a window behind him, facing east. Instinct combined with his comparative slowness to let her step out of his range. She readied her blade for a follow up strike, but was interrupted by a pressure in the air.

Another Servant was near, and it wasn't Archer.

There was a knock on the house's door, and a deep voice called "Truce, I wish to parley words." Shirou and Saber exchanged a look, and he deferred to her judgment with a shrug. He didn't know how to handle this. The voice called out again, in a near growl. "I would not harm my host in his own house. I wish to strike a bargain for mutual benefit."

Saber's hand drifted to her waist, and she called back, "What is it you want, and how can we trust you?" She had made her way to the compound's gate, and stood to the side, behind the wall bounding the perimeter. "It is unwise to trust a proven enemy without cause, and all Servants are each other's enemies in this War.

The shadow beyond the iron gate, taller and broader than any man Shirou had ever seen, walked back to the street, where he embedded a crude stone sword as long as Shirou was tall. "I am Heracles, son of Zeus, Servant Berserker of this War."

He fell down onto his knees, cracking the pavement with his stony body's weight, and said, "I need your help to rescue my little master."

Shirou stepped forwards, all caution forgotten at the Servant's earnest plea for help. "Where is… you said 'little master', how old is your master?"

"She has the body of a child, younger than you." The large Servant stated bluntly. "We were on a walk in the city, looking for other Servants to fight, when a man in golden armor descended on a flying machine and made conversation."

Saber stiffened, then moved faster than the eye could track, appearing behind Berserker's kneeling form in a blur of blue and expended Prana, holding her hands together over his head. "His name." It wasn't a question.

Berserker stayed nearly motionless, his ears hearing the minute sound of wind in his ears. A lock of hair fell in front of his face, nearly cut. "He did not say. He led us to his camp, then grew agitated. Something was wrong. A battle had taken place, and a friend of his had died. We moved after the aggressor, but he was faster than I, on his craft. By the time I had arrived, he was…. Very angry, that Caster had escaped."

"Before we could fight, though, darkness blinded us, and when it cleared my little master was gone."

Saber spoke again. "Why didn't you rescue your master on your own, if you are the son of Zeus as you claim to be?"

"I tried" Heracles stated. "But the guardian beast, a dragon, was too strong to fight through without alerting Caster. Please. I can tell both masters in this house could support another Servant. I would do anything to rescue her."

"Of course we'll help." Shirou reassured him.

At the same time Saber said, "How do we know this isn't a trap?" How did you even find us?"

Berserker hung his head. "I can only trust you will do the right thing. As to the second… I looked 'Emiya' up in the phone book."

XIXI

Rin ground her teeth in frustration as she walked along the street towards Ryuudougi Temple with her allies. What a joke, what a sucker. Why couldn't Saber's master be the least bit intelligent? This was so obviously a trap it was all she could do to stop herself from just walking away from the whole doomed mess.

But she'd agreed to come along and help.

Somehow.

She'd gotten some time with Archer away from the others, and he'd managed to convince her that nothing Berserker could do would be able to match him and his newly remembered skills. He'd told her everything, how he could replicate any Noble Phantasms he saw, as long as they were swords. He could cancel an opponent's abilities just by tracing their blades, and copying their skills.

He could then launch those same Noble Phantasms as _arrows_, striking from outside most Servants' range. The Saber class always had a powerful Noble Phantasm sword, and if her fabulous Servant had a weapon of that caliber…

Picking a fight with a Saber would be a bad idea for them, especially given Saber's ruthlessness. So she'd just have to wait, go along with things, and, most importantly, stick close enough to Saber that her Servant could copy her Noble Phantasm.

Tohsaka Rin smiled a tight smile. Berserker, leading the way to the temple, wouldn't be a match for the two Servants walking behind him, even if he wasn't lying about being Heracles. The same went for Caster and Rider, wherever they were, and Archer had almost killed Lancer the last time they'd fought. This alliance, and her Servant's abilities, had all but assured her victory.

But what did she want to wish for? An image of Emiya- Archer- popped into her head unbidden, and she shook it angrily, willing the image away. Stupid sexy Emiya. Archer. She couldn't afford to get distracted.

People _died_ in Grail Wars, ever since the very first. She couldn't get attacked to anyone.

Berserker's voice jolted her out of her introspection. "We've almost arrived."

She glanced around. Yes, this was the road to the Ryuudougi Temple. Trees stretched overhead, arcing above the road to bathe it in shadows, despite the early hour.

"My master is being held in the central chamber by Caster. I do not know what he plans on accomplishing, but he has not killed her- yet. I would very much like for that not to happen.

As agreed, when the dragon rears its head Archer shall distract it while Saber and I kill Caster. Then we shall return to finish off the beast together."

A bow appeared in Archer's hand, and he leapt into the Temple proper. Rin reinforced her legs, following him over, as Saber and Berserker dashed forwards, followed distantly by Shirou.

"So this is my grand role in this fifth magnificent Holy Grail War. I'm supposed to 'occupy the dragon' for however long it takes for the 'powerful' Servants to kill Caster. Bah." Archer kicked at the ground sulkily. "I don't even see the stupid dragon."

"Archer…" His master was behind him, safe. "Archer. Turn around."

"Oh. There's the dragon." Emiya pulled Rin behind him again, further away from the green-scaled serpent sliding out of the trees. "I think it might be more impressive if it didn't have a moustache."

"Archer," Rin hissed in his ear. "It's a dragon. It's a Divine Beast, totally immune to modern magecraft. If it's the one that lives in the nearby river, and not something Caster just summoned up, then it probably knows martial arts. Be careful."

Emiya's mouth opened.

Emiya's mouth closed.

"It's a fifty foot long mass of muscle, teeth, and gaping holes. I doubt it's going to put up much of a fight, no matter how many martial arts it knows."

"Holes?" Rin searched for a gap in the approaching beast's armor. "I don't see any holes, where are they?"

Archer's bow appeared in his left hand, a spiraling lance traced into the other. He knocked the arrow, and peered down the shaft with a slate grey eye. "I'm going to try for a good, solid, torso shot first. I don't know about the rest yet. Caladbolg."

Rin went blind as the world exploded.

A spiraling shockwave broke from Archer's bow, preceded by a backwash of Prana as the arrow writhed on the string, air spiraling around it in a screaming drill that leapt forward in a bolt of two-tone red and blue light.

The dragon writhed, and Rin saw the lance, now twisted in on itself, embedded halfway into the dragon's side.

Archer knocked another arrow, this one long and edged down the shaft on one side. "Totsuka-no-Tsurugi." It burst into a lighting bolt as it left his bow. The longsword snapped the dragon's head back with the force of the impact before rebounding away.

"Archer!" Rin pointed a finger at the black ichor bleeding from its two wounds, just noticing the now evident corruption.

"I see, master." Emiya replied tersely, tracking the dragon as it brought its bulk to bear. It charged forwards with a speed that belayed its size, dodging another Phantasm from Archer's bow.

It loomed larger and larger in Rin's vision, and she could see what she'd missed earlier now. The once majestic Divine Beast was rotting away in the grips of Caster's magic.

Its teeth snapped down on the duo, only to scrape harmlessly off of a seven petaled flower that formed over their heads. "You see, master." Archer kept the strain from his voice admirably well, but Rin could still hear it. "This won't be a problem at all. All you need," The dragon's neck was struck again by the lightning bolt he'd fired earlier, before it ricocheted off into the sky, "are the right tools for the job."

Totsuka-no-Tsurugi fell six more times on the once noble creature's neck in quick succession.

The dragon collapsed to the ground, spine severed, and Emiya winked at his Rin. "So, the plan was for me to _stall_ the dragon, wasn't it?"

The room was dark. The only light came from the mark on her left hand, a single triangle, facing her fingers. She'd been taken so suddenly, the pain had overwhelmed her. She'd fallen unconscious almost instantly.

She heard a voice, coming from above her. "What is it that you desire?" It was deep, and smooth, rumbling through the air like a giant's would.

"I want to be let go!" The captive scowled, feeling the chains binding her arms and legs to the stone tiles. Why had she never learned proper reinforcement? She could tell she wasn't bound by magic. The air was thick with Prana, though.

How long had she lain in the dark? Time must only seem to stretch on forever; she couldn't have been bound for anywhere near as long as she thought. Why hadn't her Servant come for her?

"That requires a sacrifice, little girl. Perhaps I did not make myself clear. You have great power within you, a great future ahead. I cannot change this.

Her eyes widened. A great future? "That's cruel!" She spat out.

"But why is it cruel?" Heavy footsteps rattled the stones. Just how heavy was her captor? She made the connection.

"You're a Servant, aren't you?" The footsteps stopped, and she pressed on. "Where's your master?" Perhaps she could reason with a fellow magi, explain that, it pained her to admit it, she wasn't really even in the running to win the Grail War. Useless.

Her hair stood on end, and ice slid down her spine at her captor's next word. "Dead. I killed him myself, and I do not need another. I need no one. Is that what you want, freedom?" Two red lights, eyes, began to glow in the darkness, and she saw the Servant was indeed a giant of a man.

She shook. "Is that it? Have you broken already? Do you have no greater purpose to strive for, no goal? Is all you are a broken tool?" His voice had grown louder and louder, ending the last word with a deafening roar, before continuing, almost at a whisper. "Is there nothing, no one, that you cannot overcome on your own? No stumbling block lies before you?"

"I- I have to prove I'm worth it." The words fall out of her mouth like lead, in the silence. "The last I saw of him, he'd left me. He left me for someone else. I ran as far from him as I could, but…"

"But I was there, waiting."

"Yes…"

The footsteps began again. "I can help you, with that goal."

"I need to be strong enough. Even if the War's killed him already; he shouldn't have trusted a magus. I need to be able to show he shouldn't have abandoned me."

"I can make you great." It was a promise. The chains on her dissolved into nothingness. "Take my hand."

She did.

Ashes fell like snow on the broad-brimmed black hat that lay, half buried, beneath the collapsed rubble of Matou Mansion. Holmes carefully dislodged it from its resting place and dusted it off. "You really ought to take better care of your headgear," he quipped to the pile of timber before him. "You might also find it wise not to continually underestimate the extremely old, as well as the exceptionally young."

The rubble fell off Hook's back as she stood up, her back to her companion. "Oh, be quiet and let a woman have a little privacy, will you. Old wretch was surprisingly spry."

Holmes cocked an eyebrow and reached for his pipe. "Oh? Please, explain."

She turned around, holding a decapitated head in her hand. "Bastard nearly vaporized my shirt with that last blast. He must have been damn near five hundred, with the weight he was throwing around."

"Your eyes?"

"All they said was 'worms'."

_earlier_

"Disintegrate." Hook ducked under the bolt of atomized air, Sapphire eyes widening at the smell of ozone it created. Matou Zouken immediately spat out another spell, "Crush."

Again the pirate dodged, leaping off the wall, and the staircase behind her was compressed into a marble-sized chunk of stone, which snapped into the back of her head. Chunks of red and grey matter splattered across the carpet in front of her, and she fell to the floor.

Zouken didn't flinch at the sight of his opponent's death, and a flick of his fingers reinforced the bounded fields surrounding him. He waited.

Hook's hand suddenly swung up, pointed her ornate flintlock at him. He smirked as the lead ball was halted by his barrier. "Really? Firearms have been an issue since the sixteen hundreds, and before that arrows could still kill. Is it so inconceivable that I'd made improvements since then?"

Hook stood back up slowly, rubbing her face. "I hope you enjoyed that, guttersnipe! Getting your head blown out stings something fierce. But," She gave a smirk to match the elder man's own. "It's not like dying can stop… a Counter Guardian."

She laughed, a deep belly laugh at his widened eyes. "Oh, there it is, the fear. You can't kill me, can't even really hurt me when I'm 'on the clock', as it is. No matter what you do Allaya will reverse it, because I'm hear to deal with a threat. It can't be you, though, because you're a whining little two-bit magus with delusions of immortality. Let me tell you about living forever," Her eyes clouded over for a second, and Zouken almost thought he saw an island in them. "It's never worth the price."

He paused at the thought, then shook his head. "You. You and whoever came with you, the Grail picked your presence up, but I thought- No matter. I'll just have to eradicate the entire body. Simple." He held out his hands, and worms began to stream in from the walls. "I don't normally eat women, but I'll make an exception for you."

The raven-haired woman dropped her pistol and drew her rapier from her belt, bringing it down on Zouken's head in a crescent of silvered steel, stopping whatever magecraft he was working in its tracks. Worms piled on worms by the walls of the room, making grotesque, wriggling piles of putrid flesh. As one, they opened their mouths, revealing rings of serrated teeth, and began to crawl across the space between them and the intruder.

Hook kicked Zouken's body at the window, but it bounced off a barrier with a hollow ring. She absently kicked the other half of his head over to join the rest of him, and began to step on the worms as they drew near. "That was disappointing."

The only warning she had the fight wasn't over was when a fist-sized section of her lower torso vaporized.

Hook flooded the gap with Prana from Allaya, reforming her flesh in an instant, and blasted the encroaching worms back with a wave of expelled magic. "You're not dead yet? Talk about rude." Her black coat billowed as she turned to face her, perfectly healthy, opponent, taunting him as she closed in. "And you have the nerve to ruin my shirt? I spent fifteen minutes pressing the sodding thing."

Zouken raised one side of his forehead. "Oh? I thought we were through with the banter. Silly me, forgetting things in his old age." He muttered a phrase, and Bounded fields rose up from the floors around Hook, boxing her in, but she carved through them negligently with a wave of her sword.

"Stop? My dear decrepit elder, I am having far too much fun to _stop._ Hook nearly crowed in anticipation. _Almost there…._

"Well then, are we to be locked in combat forever?" Zouken flew apart at the waist, reforming from the worms now covering the floor like a carpet. "Two immortals, dancing the age-old dance of murder and counter-murder?" He reformed his bounded fields just in time to block Hook's stabbing sword. "Do you thing you can kill me, little girl?"

Hook's vision clouded in barely concealed rage, and her she rolled up her right sleeve, revealing her hook for the first time. She was not. That wasn't her. She didn't- little. _Plan. Stick with the plan._ She slid her sword back into its holster, replacing it with another ornate pistol. "If you tell me what I want to know, I won't harm a hair on your head any more." She circled to the left, towards the window by the door. "Otherwise I'm going to kill you, and my associate can rip the knowledge out of your rotting head. Your choice."

His only response took her right leg off at the knee. Hook's lips stretched tight over her gums as she bared her teeth in a savage grin. "Die."

She took careful aim, and fired her pistol.

The package exploded three feet away from the aged Matou patriarch an instant after the red-hot ball impacted.

The second stage of the fuel-air bomb went off a fraction of a second later. Hook's hat blew off, the walls blew down, and Zouken blew into chunks.

Hook swung her namesake.

Perhaps it was because Saber had to stop every so often to help Berserker tear down an obstacle, perhaps it was because of the random monsters that lunged at the two leading rescuers out of the gloom, but somehow Shirou managed to keep Saber in his sight as they raced through the temple. A locked door, bound with chains, was ignored. The hulking demi-god charged right through it. Saber snatched it off the ground half a second later as she passed through the gap, hurling the inch-thick slab of steel at a knot of pig-like creatures.

Berserker reached the end of the corridor, but he didn't stop. The wall exploded in a cloud of bricks and mortar, revealing a large, nearly empty room. Shirou stopped to catch his breath when he caught up, and looked around. There was a giant of a man, almost as tall as Heracles, though not as wide across the shoulders, standing next to a stone table, on which lay a small girl with long white hair. The enemy Servant, what else could he be, was wearing some kind of European plate armor made of black metal edged in gold, and he was holding a knife.

A flash of purple caught his eye.

It was Sakura.

She was standing in a large cage in the corner off to the side by the whole in the wall he was at. Shirou glanced around again. Saber and Berserker were advancing on the figure in the middle of the room, who had drawn a massive broadsword wrapped in cloth_. Execu…_

No one was paying attention to him, so he went to his classmate and friend. "Sakura, are you all right?" Shirou grabbed her hand through the bars. "I'm going to get you out of here, all right?"

"Shirou," Sakura breathed. "You came for me…" The lines etched into her face and chest, Shirou flinched at his father's voice narrating a passage from one of his journals, listing all the things magical brands could mean. He had to get Sakura away from here. Now.

Shirou gave a nervous chuckle and glanced back at the three Servants. The black-armored one had stepped back, giving up ground to the allied two, but he was close to the wall now, and would run out of space soon. "Are you any good at reinforcement?" He whispered through the bars.

"Yes, but I can't break the bars." Sakura said.

Shirou closed his eyes. A sword rang as it left its sheath. He grabbed a bar and braced his feet. "I'll pull, you push, we can get you out that way."

Sakura nodded confirmation, and grabbed hold of the bar, her hand resting nearly on top of his. The bar bent easily to their combined strength, and Shirou grabbed her hand again as they ran towards the whole in the wall.

The last thing he heard from the large room was steel ringing on stone.

Heracles advanced on the Servant that had kidnapped his master cautiously, his hands held up to the level of his head, palms down and angled slightly in. He fixed his eyes on his opponent as he stepped between him and Illya. Nothing would harm her.

Saber paused to take in the situation, then drew Invisible Air and held it low with both hands. She began to close, circling around to the other side of the sacrificial alter the unconscious homunculus was lying on. "Berzerker, it seems he kidnapped your master to extract the Lesser Grail. If this War is like the last, then it lies within your master."

"I believed something along those lines." Heracles' voice was low and steady, completely confident.

Saber took a step closer to the black-clad Servant, but he took a step back to compensate and held up the knife in his left hand. Heracles took a step forward, and the Servant turned his attention back to him, and narrowed his red eyes. _Now!_ Saber channeled her Prana out the back of her body, propelling her forward with a muffled crack of displaced air, beinging Invisible Air down on the arm holding the knife.

The whirling vortex of wind deflected off the Servant's forearm, barely scratching his armor. A flick of the wrist propelled the knife in the Servant's hand towards the portion of her legs not covered by her armored skirt, forcing Arturia to dodge to the right. The blade rang slightly as it sank into the stone tile covering the room.

At the same time, Heracles shifted his weight and lunged forward with his left hand. His opponent, distracted by Saber's attack, didn't notice until it was too late for him to dodge. Heracles' left hand latched onto his opponent's shoulder, and he spun the armored man around with a mighty pull, unbalancing him.

Heracles grabbed the other man's right arm and bent it behind him, locking the other arm with his grip on the left shoulder, gave a scream of rage, and _pulled._

Saber backed off, watching the other Servants duel and conserving her strength. Heracles' combat ability was nearly unparalleled, she thought as she watched him nearly rip the other Servant's arms off with the force of his arm lock, before using the grip he had on the armored man's arm to slam him through the wall, cracking it, before he was forced to step back by a sudden burst of black flames erupting from Caster's body.

The fiery Servant scowled at his limp left arm, and he forced it back into its socket with a pop before he took a step away from the wall. Heracles took another step back as the fire dripped onto the ground, forming a rough circle on the floor around his feet. "Enough of this." A long, broad blade, wrapped in cloth, rose from the ground in front of him, and he grabbed it, easily holding the greatsword in his right hand.

Then the flames rose in intensity, and he blurred forwards, nearly as fast as Saber could track, as he swung his sword at Berserker's throat with unprecedented speed. Saber's Instinct flared an instant before the strike his home. "Berserker!" She shouted, and released Invisible Air as a shockwave that knocked Caster back, his strike aborted. He raised his guard, but Saber snapped forward through the slipstream generated by Invisible Air, her dainty fist crumpling his breastplate and knocking him back into the damaged wall, and through it. Heracles leapt over her as she paused to rebind Invisible Air into its sword-shape.

She followed the pair outside, Invisible Air held ready at her waist.

Behind her, unseen, Illyasviel Von Einzbern opened her eyes, glowing a bloody red in the gloom. Jagged black marks ran across her skin. She levered herself to her feet and smiled, revealing her incisors were elongated to needle points. _"Power."_

Berserker kept the pressure on his enemy. Caster rolled back to his feet with his breastplate in his left hand, swinging it at his head like a flail, but Berserker materialized his axe-sword and cut it away while he jabbed at Caster with his other hand, landing a punishing blow on his now unarmored chest and throwing him back into the oak tree in the middle of the courtyard.

He raised his sword to deflect the stone blade's next strike, diverting the massive weapon away from him. Berserker felt his rage growing, but he forced it back down. He had to stay in control. He couldn't afford to lose himself. He tried another barrage of strikes, near his full speed, but the black-clad warrior's limbs burned with dark fire, and he deflected all but the least serious.

He needed to finish this, his little master needed him! Heracles took a step away from his opponent, and said "Nine-"

Caster used the same technique Saber used earlier, expelling raw Prana from behind him to rush into range. He aborted his Noble Phantasm, instead focusing on blocking the increasingly powerful blows the Servant rained down with his wrapped sword. There was only one reason to wrap a blade like that, to hide its identity.

It must be a Noble Phantasm, and Heracles couldn't allow it to be used. "Roaaagh!" He gave a savage roar and swept his massive sword in an arc before him. Caster's skin grew darker, and his strength seemingly increased again, but it wasn't enough to stop the mad demigod. Heracles's sword buried itself in his chest. The back of his left hand flashed with three lights, then two, but he remained upright.

Berserker redoubled his efforts when the enemy Servant refused to fall. One strike, two, three, four, "Nine Lives!" He shouted at the wounded man, and an illusion of a coiling dragon with nine striking heads surrounded his sword as he swung it over his head in a mighty stroke.

The dark Servant swung his own blade, and his sword glowed white through the cloth wrapping it. Phantasms clashed, and, briefly, Heracles feared he might lose, that this Servant was too strong. His fears were realized.

Nine Lives split off to the sides, parted by the glowing blade, and Berserker felt it cut into his gut. Greater than the wound, though, was the feeling of ten of his twelve lives being stripped away in a single blow.

Then Saber was suddenly there, glowing with expelled Prana as she swung her fist, a screaming typhoon wrapped around it.

Caster's arm shattered, and he spun with the impact as his sword spun off into the oak tree, dodging the majority of Saber's blows with his own Prana-fuelled movements. The tree immediately began to turn grey, and its leaves fell to the ground in a curtain of brown.

He traded blows with her as Berserker got back up on his feet, gripping his stomach with his left hand. "Nine Lives." This time nine lances of red light arced out from Heracles' sword, spearing Caster through.

Two lights flashed on his left hand, then only one glowed dimly.

BROOHM

A shockwave washed over the temple grounds, and a shining speck in the darkening sky grew larger. Heracles' eyes widened, matched by Saber's at their recognition of the man on the golden airship circling the area, moving slower and slower until it hovered in the air above the oak tree, kicking the dead leaves surrounding it into the air.

Gilgamesh stood on his Vimana, arms crossed as he stared down at the courtyard, eyes focused on one figure to the exclusion of all else.. "Thief! You who stole from the King, you who took the King's retainer, you who mock me, die like the disease ridden cur you are!"

That moment's distraction was a moment too long. Caster's hand twitched, a single word falling from his fingers to the ground, "Keese." A column of darkness exploded into the air around him, before separating into hundreds of individual bat-like creatures.

Gilgamesh's mental command triggered the Gate of Babylon, and the summoned creatures fell dead in an instant, dissolving into puddles of darkness that covered the surrounding ground. Their summoner was nowhere to be seen. "Damn you Ganondorf! I'll see you dead and hung from your ankles!" Gilgamesh called into the evening sky, before he stepped forward and sat down on the edge of his Vimana, peering down at the two Servants below. "Hello Saber. I'm afraid I'm not having a very good day, but" his pushed his hair back absently, "I feel more _me_ than I have for a while now."

Saber was silent, instead walking to the sword left embedded in the oak tree. "I feel like I know this weapon." She said.

Gilgamesh nodded, glad for the topic change. He could talk about weapons. "It's old, older than most of mine." He paused at the disbelieving look on Saber's face. "Don't look so surprised. I know my treasures, and that one is old… very old. It might even be older than Uruk."

"It reminds me of Caliburn." She mused, as she ran her hand along the hilt.

"The Sword Which Purges, yes." He replied. "But that seems more like a killing sword, made to execute in one blow."

"It hit you, Berserker. What happened?" Saber gave a glance over her shoulder. "Berserker?"

Heracles was on the ground, clutching his guts with one hand, and holding himself upright with his other. Red light was bleeding out from between his fingers, shining from where the sword struck him. "It' s killing me, and it isn't stopping." He grunted. "Look after her, like you promised, knight. She's a nice girl, just needs to be wanted, even if she doesn't show it. You've just got to… Little master?" His eyes widened, and Saber turned to face the hole that led back to the room they'd just left.

Illya stood there, barefoot on the cold tiles, and with a wide grin showing her new teeth. She moved out of the gap with grace she hadn't previously shown. "Berserker, it's good to see you again." Her voice had a curious quality, like more than one person was speaking, but in perfect synchronization. "I/We/She appreciate how much you've looked after me/us/her while…" She shook her head, "while I was sleeping, but I'm awake now, and we can see things so much more clearly."

"I'm not a vessel for the Grail, I'm far more than that. I have the memories of all the vessels who came before, and all the magic a human frame can hold. I'm as far beyond the child I appear to be as you are beyond modern humanity, so I'm going to give you something, Berserker."

She raised her hand towards Saber, and barked out , "Kill her. I don't want someone as ruthless as her being around my Kiritsugu's son!"

"Little lady, I swore I would not. I made truce with her and her allies, so that we could rescue you."

"I don't care!" Illya's personality seemed to shift into a more childlike state. "I don't want anyone my Kiritsugu cares about hanging around with a disobedient little person like her. She tried to disobey him! He only wanted what was best for us, and I saw him have to force her to try and destroy the Grail!"

She giggled at Saber's whitening face. "Of course, I know how that ended. Are you having trouble this time around, my cold knight? How do you like knowing you'll never hold the sword that cut me so deep again?" Illya pursed her lips, and one of the thinner lines tracing her body glew red for a moment as she used a command seal. "I said, kill her."

Berserker rose to his feet.

Shirou half-carried Sakura as he retraced the path he came in through. She'd tried to run with him, but shortly after starting her legs had given out. Shirou picked her up without a second thought, holding her on his back as he ran. Her breath felt strange on his ear. Her wrists were cold to the touch, as he held them to his chest, lifting her with his center instead of his arms. What was wrong with her? He could worry about that when he escaped, when he got them both to Rin and Archer.

The Tohsaka family was supposed to specialize in storing Prana in objects, but surely Rin'd know more about healing magic than him?

He heard a crash of falling stone from the chamber he'd left behind, but he ignored it. Saber would handle it, even if he felt wrong not being near her while she risked her life. He had a purpose here too, so he marshaled the remnants of the Od he'd introduced into his muscles earlier and ran faster and faster down the corridor.

In another setting, feeling his friend's body pressed against his own might have been romantic, but not now. Not now, with the feeling of something squirming and writhing beneath Sakura's skin. She moaned pitiful, gasping, sounds into his ear as he ran. Someone was going to pay for what they'd done to her, Shirou swore to himself as the light from the door outside grew brighter. It was probably Caster, he thought. Who knows how much time he'd had alone with Sakura? Once Sakura was better, he'd-

A burst of air pressure nearly flipped him over, and he flew away from the exit, landing heavily on his feet. Sakura whimpered as her arms strained under the sudden reversal of motion.

He moved towards the door again, this time more cautiously, whispering reassurances to his friend all the while.

"Well this was a massive waste of time." Hook growled at her partner. She was assembling something from a mass of wires and gray slabs of material, packing them carefully into a box. "I don't see why you just couldn't tell us where the damned shadow was. It's not like the thing can think yet, it should be easy for you to track it down!"

Holmes looked up from the kitchen table of the appartment they'd appropriated, and wiped his bloodstained hands on the apron he'd found hanging in the kitchen. "There was no way for me to figure that out, Hook, no reason for her not to be there. Something odd's going on, and it's messing with what should and shouldn't be happening." He looked back down at the flayed head sitting on the placemat. "And it seems your friend here was hiding something from you. He didn't know where the shadow was, after all."

"You did," He said without lifting his head, "ask him where she was. Did you not?"

Hook gave no response.

Holmes sighed a long-suffering sigh. "I see. Well, we would have had to kill him anyway, so no harm done. I need to see something at the docks, and no," He stood up and walked towards the door, "I don't know why, but it's very important. I'll see you later." The door clicked shut, and Hook was alone in the room.

She looked at the half-finished bomb in her lap, then at the door. Bomb, door. Bomb, door. "Screw this second class place." She stood up and headed for the door. "It's about time I get some proper enjoyment anyways."

Captain Hook didn't close the door behind her. There was no point in going back, after all. The detective would track her down when he figured out what needed killing next. She was going to go 'shopping'.


	5. Chapter 5

Here's the combined sections of part four, a full 12 thousand. Wow, this is getting to be pretty long.  
In other news, this _once again_reads much better as a whole.

In this chapter, some creepy things happen, some people die in somewhat gruesome ways, and things get dangerous.

XIXI  
XIXI

Shirou burst out through the door, and stopped. It was unbelievable.

Rin and Archer were _skinning_the dragon. "Rin! Over here!" He started walking towards then, finally feeling the strain of running such a long way, then running back while carrying Sakura. She was lighter than she looked, though, so it wasn't too stressful. "What are you…?"

Rin wiped her hands on her blood-stained skirt and sniffed dismissively. "Do you have any idea how rare and valuable dragonskin is?" She asked. "The rest is junk, either poisonous, or toxic, or explosive, but the skin is practically magic-proof! Even if I don't win the Grail War, I'll be set for life with this much of it!" She stepped off the beast's half-skinned back with an almost dance-like motion, then sobered as she caught sight of the girl on Shirou's back. "...Sakura?"

Shirou laid her down on the grass, and he was quickly joined by Rin and Archer, both somber. Rin ran a hand along her, looking for wounds. "What's wrong with her? What happened; was she Berserker's master?" She questioned rapidly, growing more and more frantic as she failed to find any obvious signs of Sakura's evident pain.

"I don't think so." Shirou replied. "He seemed a whole lot more concerned about the girl on this stone table than Sakura. I don't know what's wrong with her, but it seemed like there was something… moving… inside her earlier."

Archer spoke up. "That's bad, very bad. There aren't any good kinds of possession, in my experience. Master?" He ended with a question, and looked at Rin.

She raised her hands, still spattered with the dragon's blood, and wiped her face. "No. There's nothing good that comes of something forcing itself inside someone, it's always parasitic." Her bloodless face contrasted in the fading light with the red smears where her hands had touched. "I… I never thought… She was supposed to get trained in the Matou family magecraft, that was the bargain. My _sister_wasn't supposed to be some kind of walking thaumaturgical experiment!"

Shirou stayed silent and watched a pink tear splash on Sakura's pain-clenched face. He couldn't think of anything to say.

"After this, tomorrow, we're going to the Matou's mansion. Archer, we're going to kill him. Zouken said he'd take care of her. _Take care_ of-" Rin was rambling, her eyes focused one of her sister's arms, where she could see her skin deforming as something passed through the muscle groups. "We're going to _take care_of him."

Rin's hands clenched into fists as Sakura doubled over on the ground, gritting her teeth. A hand fell on hers. She looked up into Shirou's golden eyes. "_We'll_. He comforted her with that word. "We'll go tomorrow."

The scene pulled at Archer's heartstrings, and he almost spoke up. Sakura had to die. She was the shadow he'd been sent to kill, and if he didn't do it himself, then the other Counter Guardians would step in. Hadn't he had a plan for this situation? Hadn't he decided to betray Rin and kill his past self?

But that wasn't him anymore. That was Emiya Shirou, high school student and would-be hero, and he was a murdered with a coat stained red with an ocean of innocent blood. He spoke up, causing both teens to look at him. "I can fix her."

Shirou gasped and doubled over in sudden shock, and a dome made of writhing shadows burst through the temple. "I can't feel Saber!"

XIXI

Saber deflected another of Heracles' strikes, the force nearly driving the blade- now leaking light from gaps in the wrapping, into the floor with the force of the blow. _His master, must have activated his Mad Enhancement!_That, combined with the Command Seal she'd used to make him attack, meant the massive man was quickly wearing her down. She ducked beneath a horizontal stroke and disengaged, Prana Bursting behind him and through the hole in the wall. She knew she was faster than him, so if she made it back to Archer… Yes, then the fight would be in her favor. As it was now, a single blow from Heracles' stone sword would finish her.

She blurred into the room, trailing spent Prana behind her, and crossed its width in a heartbeat. She felt Heracles following, then stop. She turned around, sword lighting the scene.

Caster had stepped out of the shadows by the makeshift entrance, and he held Berserker bent backwards by his long hair. With a quick movement, he raised his knife and slit the Servant's throat, then grabbed his jaw and twisted his head around to overlook his back. In another burst of fire puncture wounds appeared in his unarmored torso as the knife perforated Heracles' kidneys.

Heracles dissolved into dust with no further fanfare.

Red lines began reaching out from Caster's feet, covering the room in strange, looping, script.

Caster began to walk towards Saber, metal boots impacting on the floor in an unhurried stroll, when a voice all-too familiar to Arturia rang out through the room. "How _dare_you run away from your King, mongrel!" Gilgamesh stood framed by the setting sun in the whole to the courtyard, his golden armor gleaming dully in the light. "I'm going to have to pin you in place, aren't I Ganondorf?" Weapons once again emerged from the air behind him, hanging with blatant menace.

Ganondorf's only response was to slam his left hand into the ground, palm first. A circle of flames lighting up around the three Servants flared up, but was briefly outshone by the renewed burning of the three triangles on the back of his fist. "Territory Creation: Twisted World," He whispered in the still air.

The darkness expanded from his feet, covering everything it touched. Saber stepped back toward the exit, trying to avoid the mysterious substance, but found she could not. It was as if the world ended once she'd gotten far enough away from the spell's caster. That wasn't how Territory Creation worked in any of the previous Grail Wars. It should just be creating a unique bounded field, to let Caster work sorcery with greater ease, it shouldn't be doing this.

It shouldn't overwrite the Grand Reality Marble, and create an entirely separate space.

She wrapped Invisible Air around her new blade, shredding its wrapping and revealing the shining light beneath. That was all it was, light, but it felt like steel in her hands. It felt like Caliburn. It twitched, eager to pierce the Servant that had wielded it before, eager to purge him from the world.

The darkness did not touch it.

Caster stepped out of the pool of shadows that hid where he once stood, clad again in a full suit of plate.

"I wielded that blade," the Servant spoke calmly as he reached into his cloak, "so I could show the Sages that I would never be stopped by them, that nothing they could do would ever pose a threat. I killed hundreds with their own holy blade, and made them watch. In the end, only fate could stop my triumph, time and time again. Only one thing could stop me, only one thing could kill me- fate."

He pulled his hand out from behind his back, holding a glob of darkness. "That petty blade, Execution Sword that it is, could no more end me than anything else. Only one sword, divine work of fairies it is, could destroy me." The darkness in his hand grew larger, elongating into a thick shaft. "But I can sense so such weapons here." The shadows bulged out, forming a leering skull from which sprouted the three tines of a trident.

"Since you've been good enough to listen to me while I stalled for time, my name is Ganondorf, and I am King of Evil. How fortunate is it, that I feel the touch of royalty in the two of you as well?" He gestured extravagantly to Gilgamesh. "He has introduced himself already, but you, my knight, have yet to speak your name." He held his left hand out to her, bare of any ornamentation.

Saber did not reply, instead flicking her eyes across the room. Something was wrong, missing.

Gilgamesh filled the void. "I think you may have spoken too much, King of Brags. You see, what would a King be without a treasury, and mine is more full than any other." He smirked at his enemy, and raised a hand high above his head before snapping. A rank of shining blades pierced the invisible veil behind him, replacing the one's left outside Caster's Territory.

"Aha! I see you understand." Gilgamesh's smile slipped on one side, turning into a hostile smirk. Holy? Faery make? Evil's Bane? I have those blades." Three shot from behind him in bursts of light, blasting holes in the stones as Ganondorf swatted them out of the air with his trident. Gilgamesh launched another salvo, but the skull on his trident's eyes flashed, and they skittered off a sickly yellow sphere of Prana.

"My Gate will not require more fuel from myself, and this Twisted World of yours is doubtless cutting you off from the Prana you're getting from your master. My darling over there seems to be holding up well, but how long can you work your twisted sorceries without your master's support?" Gilgamesh taunted.

Ganondorf only held his trident overhead, and it began to spin on his palm, whirling faster and faster until it seemed a solid disc of gleaming steel. "As if the King of Evil would die to a cheap trick." He said, then he hurled his weapon at Saber.

Saber's instinct flared, and she stomped her foot, kicking the resulting broken tile into the deadly spinning projectile and knocking it out of the air, then charging in a burst of Prana.

Gilgamesh frowned as his Saber drew too close to the other King for his tastes. He killed Lancer, which meant he probably fought dirty. Not that Gilgamesh didn't fight dirty himself, but he wasn't sure if his Saber would expect…

She expertly sidestepped the trident as it shot through the air, avoiding being impaled as it returned to its master's hand. Gilgamesh nodded wisely to himself. Clearly she had everything under control.

Saber ignored another feeling of probing at her Prana stores. It was a measuring feeling, like something was gauging how much Prana she had. It wasn't important. She stepped in close, locking Ganondorf's trident with her light sword, and punched him with a Prana-enhanced blow in the chest, duplicating the strike that had wounded him earlier.

Her fist carved through his armor like paper, only for her to wince at the pain as her knuckles broke on his skin. A burst of Prana carried her back out of range, and another healed her fingers. "You are very strong, for a Caster."

Ganondorf chuckled darkly as he stood in the border of the light cast by Saber's sword. "If you keep on giving me lines like that, you'll end up dead before I get to enjoy this. It's been far too long since I've had a chance to properly show myself off, and you keep on giving me the opportunity" His muscles bulged, his back hunched slightly, and his nose began to elongate as he stared at her with coal-black eyes. "To stand here wasting time talking to you while I-"

He launched himself into the air in a roll, barely dodging a quartet of spears on one side, and Saber's heavy slash from the other. "activate my abilities one by one! I can understand that- Oh. That was almost a good effort." He touched the tip of the sword protruding from his chest.

He fell to his knees, and Saber pulled out the Execution Blade, then decapitated him in one stroke.

Ganondorf dissolved into darkness, the Twisted World faded away, and Saber could fell her master again, funneling her Prana. She Prana Boosted, appearing in front of her master, and picked him up bodily, holding him over her shoulder. "We need to leave. A powerful Servant is in there, and I don't want to deal with him after another fight. We should retreat."

Shirou protested. "I have to help Sakura!" But he stopped when Saber picked the purple-haired girl up with her other arm, and began running back to the Emiya residence.

Rin looked at Archer.

Archer looked at Rin.

Archer picked up his master and followed Shirou and Saber, holding a carpet-roll of dragonskin under his arm.

Back in the temple, Ganondorf rose out of the dark corner, and smiled. Not bad for a few days' work. Two out of three completed. "Illyasviel, I'm going to the docks. There's someone there I need to meet." He picked up the Execution Sword, and slid his trident back into the darkness.

XIXI

The air was cold on the docks, and Sherlock Holmes was grateful he'd worn his jacket. He clapped his hands together. "Well, I believe it's time to start." He ran his eyes along the length of the docks before him, ending at the coast. "This might take a while."

Some time later, Holmes had reached the end of the wooden dock, and stood at the mouth of the river that cut Fuyuki city in half. He hadn't found anything of note. Rotten luck that. "On the upside, I think I've got enough for a decent cuppa, as soon as the shops open." He counted the notes and change he'd found during his investigation. "Time to check the other side."

With a mighty bound, he slipped across the water, landing soundlessly on the opposing dock, and began his second search. _-The sound of cloth on damp wood, the smallest quiver of the notes in his hand against the breeze, his hindbrain screamed.-_Holmes shuffled to the right, and five dull knives embedded themselves where he stood a moment before.

A small man stood in the shadows by the water, thin cords leading from his extended hand to the knives that Holmes had dodged. His face was covered in a skull mask _-Assassin-_. He wore mottled grey cloth covering his entire body _-ritual garb, doubles as camouflage-._ The sinews bunched _-implants, grafted onto the nervous system-_, drawing the blades back into his palm, readied for another throw.

But Holmes was there. His coat held in one hand, then tossed into Assassin's face. Assassin backed up, trying to find his target. A shadow moved- he threw! Four thumps sounded as his knives hit only soft wood. Four?

Sherlock grabbed the knives, ignoring the one piercing his upper arm, and wrapped the slimy sinews attached to them around his wrist. "Got you." Assassin triggered his other hand, but his aim was soured as Holmes yanked on his other set with monstrous strength, pulling him in close.

A succession of devastating blows rained on the Servant, thunderous debilitating blows robbing him of his bodily control. He collapsed, and his target turned away, uninterested. "What's this? Some kind of summoning array?" He moved a crate twice his size with a push of his hand, revealing the symbols burned into it. "Three sacrifices, three boundaries defined by them. This is_odd._It's almost like-"

Three heavy thuds sounded one after the other, heralding another arrival behind him, and Holmes turned around to see who'd snuck up on him this time. Twice in one night, highly irregular.

He froze. Every inch of his being was telling him to attack the Servant before him. Every bound cell, sworn to Alaya's service, screamed at him to kill him before it was too late.

It was already too late. Assassin had been split from head to crotch down his middle by Ganondorf's blade, and the King of Evil stood there, the spitting image of his picture in the book. "Twisted World: Threefold Sacrifice."

Holmes took a step back in disbelief as a pillar of amber light erupted from the ground behind him, arching over Fuyuki city to intersect with two others. The sky flashed, and the light faded.

But the thought that filled Holmes' head with panic, as far as he could panic, was this. He couldn't feel Alaya.

XIXI

Saber, Shirou, Archer, and Rin walked met up again in the dining room of Shirou's house. None of them had lasted the evening unscathed. Shirou was wiping a sheen of sweat from his body with a dishtowel. Rin's normally immaculate clothes were stained with dragon blood- the skin was in the backyard under a tarp, where it wouldn't bother anyone. Archer had gone pale the instant Saber mentioned the small white-haired girl's corruption, and had refused to speak. Saber's armor was scuffed, and she was shaken from having her mental contact with Shirou cut earlier.

Sakura was lying in one of the guest rooms, finally still as she lay on the soft western-style bed Kiritsugu had kept for his foreign associates. As he'd laid her there, on top of the sheets, she'd finally stilled.

Rin spoke first, looking around at the other people sitting around the wooden table. "Archer, you said you could help Sakura." Her expression didn't change, and her face was nearly as stoic as her Servant's.

"Yes." Archer nodded, clearly preoccupied. "Will I be sharing?" He asked, indicating the other competitors in the room.

"Of course." Rin said. "Of course. It's the least I can do. Neither of you, Shirou, Saber, neither of you has given me any cause to believe you anything but honest, well-meaning people, as amazing as that seems to me."

Emiya raised his hand, closed it, then opened it to reveal a small knife, shining with many colors as it zigzagged back and forth. Shirou felt his stomach rise into his throat, and he had to concentrate to keep from being sick at the feel of the blade. Archer spoke slowly. "This is one of the blades I've seen, Rule Breaker. It can sever any contract, any thaumaturgy, anything at all. I can use it on Sakura, and it will expel whatever parasite is inside her."

"You don't seem very forthcoming." Saber said. "How do we know you aren't lying?"

Archer shook his head. "It's not that I don't know it will work. Rule Breaker will sever every contract on her, written and unwritten, the instant it slides home. The problem is…" He stopped, and his master elbowed his arm in a silent command to continue, "that it does have to 'slide home' if I want it to do something like getting rid of thaumaturgy inside someone's body, but not get rid of their magic crest as well. Rule Breaker's got to get wedged in deep, and it might kill Sakura." He elaborated. "I don't think you'd want that."

"I can heal it." Rin pulled a jewel from her pocket, and unconsciously pushed a little Prana into it. "I can heal a knife wound. Come on."

Once Archer and Rin left to tend to her sisters Shirou asked Saber, "You said you recognized a Servant? Who?"

Saber growled. "Gilgamesh."

Shirou tried to place the name, faintly remembering it from somewhere. "Is he powerful?"

"He was the Fourth War's Archer," Saber said, "and he somehow manages to overestimate himself, which should be nearly impossible. He's… frighteningly powerful. He has a near infinite number of Noble Phantasms, and he uses them at the slightest provocation. If you ever meet a man in golden armor, " Saber's eyes pinned her master to his chair with their intensity, "don't introduce yourself as a combatant. Say you're my agent, representing me in the modern era, or something."

"I'm not sure I can do that, let you fight someone that powerful alone." Shirou whispered.

Saber smiled at him, unguarded in the face of her master's purpose. "That's why I'm your Servant."

"That's right. I've got a code I follow, just like you." Shirou stood up and stretched. "I'm going to go take a quick bath, then I'll get it set up for the next person. Dinner's going to be a quick something, after that, all right?"

His Servant nodded. "Mas- Shirou?"

"Yes, Saber?"

Arturia stepped close to him, leaning up on her tiptoes to reach his ear with her lips. Shirou shivered at her warm breath's caress as she whispered, "My name is Arturia Pendragon." Then she turned, and walked out to the dojo, as if Shirou hadn't just had her scent, like oil and steel, etched into his mind.

Shirou decided he'd take a long bath.

XIXI

Archer opened the door to a familiar room, and an unfamiliar sight. He hadn't saved his Sakura. She'd been corrupted by the Shadow, and Gilgamesh had killed her, put her down like a biting gnat. Ea didn't leave survivors, and the King of Heroes had decided not to play around once he found out the Fourth War had another surviving Servant.

He raised Rule Breaker in his hand, and slid it gently into Sakura's heart. A miniature tornado erupted around the blade for a split second, and he heard a sound like hundreds of sheets of tearing paper, then he pulled the knife out, and Rin stepped in front of him. Her hands glowed with Od, drawn from the ruby she clasped in them. The shimmering light flowed from her hands to her younger sister's chest, and the small amount of spilled blood rushed back into the wound, which promptly closed over, leaving no trace.

"Now what?"

Archer handed his master a roll of paper towels and a bucket of water with his usual smile. "Now you wash her off, so the sheets don't get any dirtier than they are. I'll be outside if you need me."

XIXI

In Ryuudougi Temple, a woman much older than she appeared sat on the roof of the main shrine, kicking her legs back and forth as she looked towards the city lights below her. She could feel the resonance of the Greater Grail below her, hidden by bounded fields that she couldn't breach, even now. That didn't matter, though, because her new master had a plan, and she_loved_it.

She'd find her father/husband soon.

XIXI

An ancient King felt all the years of his long life as he floated above Fuyuki city on his airship. Melancholy was his mood, and long his face. This was why the King had only one companion. All others died, unable to stand alongside him.

Even his darling Saber was no match for him.

He was just too good, too powerful, too charismatic.

He wondered how the little people felt.

Like those two, in the park below him. How did the boy deal with not having any power? How did the woman conceal her monstrous nature from the surrounding world? How did they lie to the people around them about the true depths, or lack thereof, of their majesty?

XIXI

Matou Shinji sat on a park bench with his Servant, clutching the Book of False Attainment close to his chest. "I still can't believe grandfather's dead."

The woman next to him ran her fingers through her long purple hair, lost in her own thoughts.

"I mean, you could probably do it,"

"Almost certainly."

"but who would even want to?" Shinji finished, then changed the topic. "We're going to Shirou's place. He'll put us up until I can get something more permanent worked out. It shouldn't take long for the house to get rebuilt, right?"

Rider stayed silent, her head tilted up to a star hanging in the night sky.

"Come on." Shinji stood up and started walking, Rider falling in behind him a few seconds later.

What if this Shirou does not wish for you to stay with him on such short notice?" Rider questioned.

"Well then," Shinji drawled, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I guess you'll have to 'persuade' him to let us stay." He didn't turn around, so he missed Rider's twitch, and the way her blindfold unwove itself for a moment.

XIXI

Hook reached the bottle, pouring a generous measure of the amber liquid within into her glass. "I've never been one for long speeches, so I'm going to keep this short." She addressed the room of drunken bar-goers. "This is a gold coin." She held up a shining circle of the precious metal, "And this here gold coin is going to buy everyone in this bar another drink!" The crowd roared, and those nearest to her slapper the Pirate Queen on the back as they voiced their approval.

"So who else thinks they can drink me under the table? I've only got four bottles under my belt so far, and there's room for plenty more!"

Hook… Was being Hook.

XIXI

Darkness washed over the city as three bright pillars of golden light shot over it, meeting to form a great pyramid of tainted energy. The ley lines died without their connection to the outside world, and the average person died with them as their fractional Od reserves were bankrupted in an instant.

Rin felt a brief tugging on her magic circuits, but ignored it.

Saber and Archer, along with the other Servants, didn't even notice the strain.

Hook swore as she swept the dust out of her eyes, and reached for another bottle. She'd deal with it in the morning.

Holmes leapt away from the Servant that had killed Assassin to enact this great thaumaturgy, but he wasn't fast enough. He saw Ganondorf charge, arm raised to throw a colossal punch. Sherlock raised his arm to deflect, but the dark Servant's fist erupted into flames, and cut through him like a knife through thick fog.

XIXI

Illya laughed at the Prana pouring into her from her master. She had to use it to do things he wanted her to, of course, but at least the poor magicless people in the city were doing something useful now.

XIXI

Shirou stepped into the tub, he'd decided on hot water after all, and closed his eyes. Bliss.

Then everything went dark, and he couldn't move.

XIXI

Shirou couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't breathe, but he was somehow still alive. It was completely dark around him, and he couldn't see anything. Luckily, he still had the mental connection all Masters and Servants shared, so he took full advantage of it. _Saber! Help!_

He couldn't hear his Servant, or anything at all, but the mental link between the two of them was still active. I'm coming, Shirou! Saber was at the bathhouse's door almost instantly. The door shredded into dust as she invoked Invisible Air before her, and she shot into the steamy room.

Empty.

The link, the feeling of being drawn to her master as if to an old friend, was still there, leading into the hot water, but her master wasn't.

XIXI

_Saber, I still can't see anything, and I'm not hearing much either. I think I'm somewhere damp, though, because I'm starting to get cold._Both Saber and her master had calmed down after a few minutes, and now Saber was looking through the bathhouse for any signs of entry with Archer and Rin. Shirou and Arturia were in constant mental communication, trying to figure out what had happened to him.

_Don't worry master, whoever took you must want you alive and intact, probably to take your command seals. If someone starts talking to you, or you feel any pain, I want you to summon me with one of them, and then order me to kill them with another._

_How do you know they want me alive? _Shirou asked morbidly. He didn't have much else he could do, and whatever his Servant said couldn't be worse than remembering all the passages from his father's journal about what could happen to captive magi.

_If they wanted you dead, whoever took you would have killed you already. _Saber replied, carefully examining the rafters for any sign of recent use, but finding nothing.

A few minutes later, Emiya- that is, Archer, paused in his search. This was all wrong. Nothing in his notebook had mentioned being kidnapped like this, and Saber didn't have a reason to lie to them, so she had to be telling the truth about Shirou just disappearing. No, that was the wrong word. He shook his head as he kneeled down to examine a wobbling floorboard. He didn't disappear, he just couldn't be found. It was almost like he was being excluded from a Reality Marble.

Actually, he might be on to something with that thought. They'd all noticed the sky becoming tinted, and Rin had complained about her Prana regeneration fluctuating for a few minutes. What if one of the Servants was using a Noble Phantasm that specifically targeted male magi, and stuffed them in a pocket dimension or something?

He'd met Berserker, Lancer, Caster, and Saber, and he was Archer, so it couldn't be any of those classes. Gilgamesh had Vimana, so he probably got summoned as... No. Gilgamesh was a survivor from the Fourth Grail War. That's what the notebook had said, anyway. Best to be sure. That left Rider and Assassin to choose from. ... Unless he was wrong, and this was a stupid idea wasn't it?

It was worth a shot. Archer sighed, sneaking a glance at his cute master. She'd taken off her sweater before coming into the formerly steamy room. Emiya closed his eyes, and whispered. "I am the bone of my sword."

Perhaps the perpetrator had used a blade? Most Noble Phantasms took that shape, after all. unconsciously understood the structure and abilities of each sword he saw or felt, but he needed more than that to search for the effects of an unknown Noble Phantasm. Unlimited Blade Works activated at its lowest setting. His senses ballooned outwards, cataloging and categorizing all blades withing a hundred meter radius.

1. Kitchen knives, two sets, were in their wracks.  
2. Fourteen assorted combat knives were hidden throughout the house, including four poisoned throwing blades in the arms of Kiritsugu's favorite coat.  
3. The blurred spot that meant there was a non-sword related weapon was in a box beneath Shirou's bed. That was probably his father's revolver.  
4. A wrack in the dojo was full of practice swords, though the Taiga-Shinai was missing.  
5. The knife he'd left next to Sakura, so she wouldn't feel helpless when she woke up, was where he'd left it.  
6. Invisible Air, the feeling of a thousand minute blades of wind, hovered uninvoked around Arturia.  
7. Excalibur was at the bottom of the hot tub.

What.

Archer opened his eyes, stepped into the tub, reached down, and felt his hand settle on a hilt he'd seen, but never felt before, just as Saber heard Shirou's voice scream in her head, agonized with soul-rending violation.

SABER!

Propelled by the command seal, she vanished into thin air, making Rin jump back into the wall in surprise. She appeared at her master's side, whipping a familiar blade from its sheath on reflex as he hand knocked away the groping fingers of her master's violator.

She held the Sword of Promised Victory lightly in her hand, the point digging into Archer's throat and a snarling death threat on her lips. "How dare you-"

"That's loads better! I couldn't see at all before." Shirou spoke, and Excalibur's glowing blue aura fluctuated with his words. "I still can't move much though."

Archer didn't move for four minutes, and when he did, it was to shake his head violently. "No." He crossed his arms. "I refuse."

"Archer." Rin took a deep, calming, breath and decided to console her Servant. "I know this must be hard for you to understand, but Shirou's, apparently, his Servant's Noble Phantasm." She took his hand in hers, and smiled. "It's just going to be one of those things we have to deal with for a while."

Emiya's grip on her hand tightened drastically, and he closed his eyes, still standing at the edge of the tub. "No. This isn't happening because this isn't real. Emiya Shirou is not Excalibur. This should have been obvious from the beginning!" He whirled around, pacing about the room and still ranting furiously.

"I can't believe I ever thought this was real! I've obviously been attacked by some kind of illusion-using Servant, and he's draining my Prana right now so he can get the ones with high Magic Resistance." He flushed his body with Prana, and the room didn't change. But would it change, if everything but his past analogue being Excalibur were true?

Struck by inspiration, he dashed into the house, then into Shirou's room. "Saber? Is Shirou still Excalibur?" He asked her.

Saber looked up from the floor, where she was running an oiled rag over her sword. "Yes. Are you all right?"

The sword flared blue, and Emiya heard Shirou's voice. "I'm still here."

"Damn." Archer turned around, and the door slid shut behind him.

Saber looked back down and resumed polishing her sword. Some people just couldn't handle stress. At least he wasn't as bad as Lancelot, fool said the stupidest things when he got drunk. She inspected Excalibur one more time, searching for blemishes on the fairy forged steel, before standing up. "I think I need to explain things. Thank you for helping Shirou, but I don't think it would be wise to have a bared blade around such an obviously... temperamental Servant."

"If I'm going back in Avalon, can I use your eyes?" He asked.

Saber nodded confirmation and stepped out the door. It was a good thing she had experience settling disputes as a King, she mused. She'd need to be careful not to push the agitated Servant over the edge.

Archer sat down heavily at the dining table. "This just doesn't make any sense." He growled at the varnished wood, devoid of food despite the hour. "I-"

Rin interrupted. "You need to let go of my hand." She was scuffed, ruffled, and her hair had half come out of its styling.

Emiya let go of her hand, and she rubbed it while she healed the bruising caused by being whipped around the house. "I can understand this might be a little hard to understand," She said, as if talking to a small child, "but we live in a world where magecraft and magic do all sorts of weird things. Shirou turned into his Servant's missing Noble Phantasm, probably because of that pyramidal bounded field around the city."

Saber spoke up from the door. "I also believe that to be correct, but there was another cause." Her hand drifted the the sword at her waist. "Emiya Kiritsugu placed an artifact, a scabbard, I owned during my life inside Shirou to save his during the aftermath of the last Grail War, ten years ago. When I was... betrayed during the previous war, I awoke again on my deathbed."

"But I died without my sword. I asked a dear friend to return it to it's giver." She said. "It was given back to the fairies, and so it wasn't properly existent." When I ceased to exist in this time, my Noble Phantasm was returned to its sheath."

"Oh!" Exclaimed Rin. "Since you didn't have your sword when you died, it traveled the shortest distance to its scabbard! But, why didn't Kiritsugu notice it?"

"I think he did." Shirou spoke up, and a light danced on the pommel of Saber's sword. "But from what he said, he wasn't really thinking clearly at the time."

"Ah." Rin nodded.

There was a bang as Archer's head met the table. "This is bullshit," He said. "This is all complete and utter nonsense."

"Archer, you make swords out of thin air and can replicate almost any Noble Phantasm you've seen. How exactly does this make any less sense?" Rin explained, before cocking her head at the red Servant. "But the only way you'd get that kind of specialty would be to have your origin be 'swords' or something like that." Emiya sat bolt upright, eyes wide. He could see the gears ticking in her eyes. He needed to distract her, now! "Surely having a Noble Phanta-"

A massive growl shook the room, rattling the lamps. Archer stood up and hastily made his way to the kitchen. "Is it that time already? I'm making dinner, who wants homemade meatballs and spaghetti? Rin, you might want to see if Sakura's all right. I'm sure she'll be awake by now."

Saber pulled out a chair and sat down, pointedly drawing Excalibur- Shirou, she corrected herself. "I hope you can cook, Archer, for your sake."

Archer only smiled in response. Crisis averted.

XIXI

_elsewhere_

Matou Shinji fell to his knees, clutching at his chest as he stared at the sidewalk with unseeing eyes, and the Book of False Attainment clattered to the ground, pages flipping in the sudden lack of breeze. A circle of amber light emerged from the air before him, but he didn't notice until a pair of metal boots were right in front of his face. _Where was Rider?_He looked up at what was obviously a Servant, tall and broad shouldered, with regal red plate armor and glowing crimson eyes shining from within its helm.

It lowered its shield and sword, and spoke with a tinny voice. "Well, well, well. This is certainly a sight for sore eyes. It's been a long while since I've seen one like you."

Shinji struggled to his feet against an invisible weight. _When did everything get so dark?_"Why can't I see they stars?"

"Because the Master flipped the world on its head. He's been doing things like this for a _long_time, and he's gotten plenty of practice subverting the Grand Marble. Tell me," The crimson knight steadied Shinji with an armored hand, leaning him against the wall of the apartment building a few feet away. "How much do you want to save yourself?"

"What?" He'd broken out in a sweat, and he felt like his insides were burning up, but Shinji'd never felt so alive before. He glanced down, and saw that his skin was shifting, hardening.

"The Twisted World, this, it's jump-started something inside you, and it's burning out of control. Soon you'll be just another ReDead, limping around trying to find something to eat, something to fill you up with the least bit of Od so you can stay sane." He held up a hand, palm down, then flipped it, and made a fist. "Or you can accept what's happening. You can live."

"How?" Shinji croaked, desperate. His skin felt tight, and he couldn't stop his fingers from jittering too and fro.

"Well, the Twisted World normally brings out everything that's there inside, everything you are behind politeness and custom. I will admit I don't know precisely how it works on humans, but that's how it's worked for pretty much everything else. It weighs you, and it you come out more bad than good," The armor's shoulders lifted in a shrug. "them's the breaks, kid. Looks like you've come out on the bad side of the split. What do you say to not being a shambling zombie for the rest of forever?"

There was only one answer. "Y-."

Then there was another, a strident voice interrupting Shinji's train of thought.. "Bellerophon!"

The red knight had his shield raised between him and the voice in an instant, before he was consumed in a raging comet of light that swept down the street. The dust settled, revealing Rider, holding a bloodied knife in one hand and a leather harness in her other. "Master, get to your friend's house."

"But-"

Rider turned, tossing something at his feet, a familiar mask. "I said run!" She turned back to the thinning dust cloud. "You can come out. I know I didn't kill you with that, knight."

"I'm surprised you still look human at all." The red knight replied. "And about that, I'm a Darknut, the Darknut Captain." He stepped out of the dust, armor blackened and dented, but still intact. His shield was held at his side, completely unharmed by the Noble Phantasm. "I don't think I could take any more of those, but that's the problem, isn't it? You couldn't get off another blast like that even if you wanted to."

"Perhaps." Rider flicked her wrist, sending the knife at the Darknut's visor. It was batted out of the way by his rapier equally quickly, but another knife arced in from his left on the end of a chain, only to ricochet of his shield. "Perhaps I simply prefer not to waste my energy." She opened her eyes, and a jagged red line began to glow on her forehead.

"Your eyes…" The Darknut spoke, but was forced on the defensive as Rider's knife angled out of the darkness again. She'd yet to move her feet an inch.

"It took the biggest bully in all of Greece to kill me, and he had five Phantasms to aid him. What hope do you have?" She took a single step forward and pulled on the chain in her hand, catching the blade on the end and holding it in her left hand.

The Darknut Captain blocked again with his shield, also advancing. "I take it we'll be fighting now, so I think I'm going to stop talking." He immediately charged forward, his sword's point glancing off a patch of suddenly scaled skin covering Rider's upper torso. He immediately changed his attack, swinging the basked hilt of his blade up in a punch to Rider's throat.

Rider knocked him aside with a wave of her hand, wrapping his sword arm with a length of chain as she did so. She pulled on the chain, dragging him off balance as she closed with quick, deliberate steps.

Her knife reached through the chainmail under the Darknut's arm with a snakelike strike, drawing back too fast for him to trap her.

As blood poured onto the silent street, the red knight laughed, only to double over with a liquid cough a few seconds in. "Well played, well played. I'm sorry about your master, though." He raised his shield to point behind her. "It's too late for him."

Shinji had fallen over on the sidewalk again, and he wasn't breathing. His body was desiccated, like it had all the water sucked right out of it. Rider turned to finish off her weakened opponent, and saw he'd produced a tin whistle from somewhere, and was holding it to his visor. "Fwweeeeeet!"

Moans and babbles sounded from all sides, and shapes became clearer and clearer as they drew closer. Pig creatures, goblins, armed with crude swords, spears, and bows, surrounded the two of them, with more and more coming into sight every second. Rider exploded.

Ripples of lean muscle carved their way into the air, reaching fifty feet at their highest point. Looping coils of scaled flesh arced in a spiral as Medusa the Gorgon towered over the surrounding mob. An angry red light shone from where her face would be, and her voice echoed in the city night. "I will not stand for this."

She swept her gaze along the petrified ranks, coming to rest on the spot where the red Darknut had stood. "Blood Fort Andromeda." A crimson net spread over the hundreds surrounding her. They couldn't scream.

Everything was still.

A thousand blood red threads tied the paralyzed monsters to a sphere hanging in midair, growing larger by the second.

XIXI

How could he see? He remembered his eyes bursting.

How could he feel? His nerves had been destroyed like the rest of his vitals.

How could he sense the Od in the strings, flowing to the sigil bordered orb? He'd never been a magus.

Matou Shinji stood up, his skin flaking off him in finger-sized ribbons, weaving themselves into a pale cloak that fit him as if it had been taken in by the bravest tailor in the world. No other would get close enough, because of what the shed skin revealed. His left incisor had lengthened, like a cat's, and his eyes were slit likewise. His blue hair was as it was before, in contrast with the rest of his face, which had lengthened, sharpened, giving him a lean, hungry aura. His chest was overlarge, bulging was muscle, but his stomach was nearly hollow, exposing his discolored organs, and a faint ridge that betrayed his spine. His legs bent backwards at the knees, like a birds, and his feet were replaced by three scything talons.

His cheeks split open as script in an old tongue, older than the World itself, burned itself into his soul. The words were quickly obscured by dripping blackness, which covered his exposed muscles as it fell to the ground in an inky sheet. His face, except his cheeks, was left bright red, in a sinister parody of a skull.

_"I am Shinji, the False Penitent."_ He rasped/murmured in a two tone voice. From behind him he heard dainty footsteps, growing more solid with each step. _"Lady"_He bowed, reluctantly, as the immensely powerful girl wove herself out of the copper cable she'd pulled from a submerged power line. First shoes, then legs, a body, arms, and a head, with hair made of silver wires drawn from the jewelry boxes of countless housewives. Illyasviel von Einzbern's alchemical construct blinked as its soul arrived.

Her voice was like an array of tiny silver bells ringing in succession. He knew because he'd seen them, before the weave of her chest had tightened. "I believe you know where the other vessel might be?"

Shinji nodded mutely, his cloak billowing out behind him.

Illyasviel smiled, revealing the only thing not made of metal, her teeth. It had taken _so long_to find a set that fit properly. "Lead the way. I want to play a game with her."

XIXI

"Sakura!" Rin entered the room she'd been asleep in at a run, enveloping her sister in a fierce hug as soon as she was in range. "Sakura. You're going to be all right. Everything's fine. We're at Emiya Shirou's house right now, he'd letting us stay for the Grail War, and I'm allied with him." She didn't see her sister's face crease in hastily concealed jealousy because of how tight she was holding her.

"Sister..." Sakura didn't hug Rin back, her hands hung loosely at her sides. "Why are you here?"

Rin pulled back and took in Sakura's blank face, framed by purple hair. Now that she got a look at it, it wasn't died, like she'd assumed it was. What had happened to her, to produce such a transformation? Rin shuddered at the memory of the... things, the worms, that had slid out of various orifices, or made their own, as they exited her sister's comatose body in the wake of Archer's Rule Breaker. She knew what had been done.

"I made a mistake." She admitted, averting her gaze from her sister's blank face. "I should have helped you, I should have known something was wrong the instant I saw you in high school." She risked a glance up, "I saw them. The worm-things that'd been put inside you."

Sakura stiffened. "Crest Worms. They're 'training'."

"How often, were you 'trained', at the Matou's?" Rin felt the urge to vomit at her sister's lack of emotion.

Inside, though, Sakura's mind was racing. She'd always thought Rin had abandoned her, that she'd been left behind and that Rin had taken everything for herself. Sakura would never forgive her, but Rin seemed like she cared. Sakura knew how to hurt people who cared, and every iota of composure her sister lost seemed to energize her. "Every night." She twisted the knife. "There was a pit of them that I slept in. I tried to keep in touch with you at first, but Zouken never let me out of the house without his supervision. I cleaned, I cooked, and I've done all the shopping for the past five years. The sessions in the pit began the day I left you."

Rin took a step back, leaning against the door in shock._ She'd have been... _"I already decided," her voice was shaking, "that I'd kill whoever put those worms inside you. That someone would hurt you like that, it's unforgivable." Rin stepped back to her sister, gathering her in another hug. "I promise. I'll make it_ hurt._" Why was she crying? It didn't make any sense to her.

"Don't." Sakura patted her sister's heaving back. "You can't fight Zouken. He's too powerful, too skilled. His magecraft, I've seen him demonstrate it, is so powerful-" She was interrupted by Rin's arms squeezing her tighter, and warmth blossomed in Sakura's chest. She could forget about revenge for a while. She had a sister again.

"I don't care." Rin hissed into her ear. "I'll kill him, and if I can't my Servant will, and if he can't then Shirou's Servant will."

"Was that the woman with Shirou in the kitchen?" Sakura asked as the two siblings pulled apart.

Rin snorted. "Probably, she certainly seems to live for his cooking!" They both laughed nervously.

"What's wrong Rin?" Sakura asked. "Is something the matter with Shirou?"

"Kind of. I don't like admitting this, but-"

"You don't know something?" Sakura interupted. "Sorry, it's just you haven't changed much."

"I think Caster's put some kind of bounded field around Fuyuki, and it's done something to the world. The ley lines have all gone dead, the sky is glowing yellow, and Shirou's stuck as Saber's Noble Phantasm." The sentence spilled out of Rin's mouth.

"Rin."

"Yes?"

"I need to see Shirou. Now."

XIXI

ider swept down the dark street, stopping every twenty yards to open her mouth and breathe deeply, taking in Sakura's scent, and the taste of magic. There was so_ much_Prana in the air, and more than that, the crushing pressure of Gaia's enmity was missing. It should be there, it didn't make sense for Gaia not to resent her imposition, but there was no strain. In the short time since her use of Bellerophon she'd already regained almost all of the Prana she'd lost. Perhaps it was the air.

This 'Twisted World' she was in catered to monsters, and she was one.

She reached her destination. Sakura's scent led to this building, Emiya's house, the sign said.

But someone else had been arriving, apparently. She was a tall woman, with statuesque proportions, wearing a long red coat, and matching wide-brimmed hat. Her hair hung down in coils like black vipers from a hidden nest hidden by her hat. Rider stopped, and the mystery woman turned. The two met each other's eyes, and each blinked in surprise.

"Fancy that. It's a red letter day indeed, to meet another set of Mystic Eyes." The stranger spoke from in front of the gate. "I see you've noticed mine." Her blue eyes, too blue to be real, faintly glowed in the night. She turned around. "Pardon the intrusion, but I do believe the girl you want to find is right inside these walls. I shan't intrude."

Rider's skin mottled with the image of scales, and in an instant she was blocking the other woman's, no, not a mortal woman, probably some Servant, path. "If you know where my master is then you know too much." Medusa hissed. "How do I know you don't intend to kill her, stranger?"

"You may call me Hook, and you have my word that I will never harm a hair on your master's head. There, now you can trust me! It would be bad form to break an honest promise given freely." She held out her left hand, her right hanging in an overlong sleeve. Medusa shook it, and stared into Hook's eyes. Hook only smiled charmingly, gave a wave, and walked away.

Rider turned back to the gate, then jumped over it into the main yard. She could see through the kitchen window from here. There was a man there... and he was naked from the waist up. He turned around, revealing that he was holding a pair of plates, heaped with food of all types. And that he was wearing a lacy pink apron.

XIXI

Emiya slid plate after plate onto the table, stopping only when he ran out of places to put dishes. "That's it. So, have you ladies decided to get along?" He looked Rin and Sakura up and down, took in the lack of major wounds on them both, and decided they had. "Good then!"

"I heard something about Shirou turning into a sword." Sakura ventured, bolstered by Rin's arm around her shoulder. "Can I see him?"

"Hey! Sakura, are you all right?" Shirou's voice sounded like he was under the table, and Saber slowly drew Excalibur, holding it over the table. Pointedly, her eyes left the food before her to stare at the purple haired girl, and her hand never loosened its firm grip on Shirou's hilt. "Are you better now?"

Sakura's face paled, and she slumped back. "...Shirou." She sighed. This was going to make things _difficult_. "Can you go back to being, you?"

"I don't-"

"Of course he can." Shirou and Saber talked at the same time, but Shirou stopped once he realized his Servant disagreed. "If it's anything like what my tutor did, all he has to do is think of himself and channel his Od."

XIXI

Rider shifted around the fence, looking in windows until she found the scene she was looking for. Sakura was standing with her arms around a boy, and a girl who was obviously her sister was standing behind her with a small smile. Rider closed her eyes for a second, remembering her sisters. Their laughter, the way they'd been so jealous when she started to grow into an adult, how they'd caster her out. She remembered how they tasted, their divine flesh augmenting her ascension into a creature greater than the gods she'd been cursed by.

Sakura was happy, her family wanted her.

So Rider left.

She wandered through the city, finding her way to the park she'd searched earlier. She released Breaker Gorgon from where it lay concealed beneath her clothes, allowing traces of her Prana to disperse into the air around her. Sakura would be safe. There were two Heroic Spirits in the house with her.

Medusa sat down in the grass and took in the oppressive atmosphere that pervaded the park. Something terrible had happened here. It reminded her of home.

She closed her eyes, and went to sleep.

XIXI

Shirou closed his eyes, relaxing back into himself as he changed. Saber picked him up and slid him back inside Avalon, and the darkness that had surrounded him was replaced by a paradise world of glades and sun dappled forests.

It had been a strange day. Without the oppressive yellow tinged sky overhead he could thing more clearly, remember more of what happened. He'd always wanted to be a hero, to stand between monsters and normal people. That was what a King's sword did, right?

He couldn't help but... think that might... be a... good... Shirou slept, and dreamed of a bloodstained field.

He was clad in plate, with himself in his hands, but he was missing his scabbard. Her friends were there with him, all come to stand one more time against the destruction of their Kingdom. Bedivere had her left, but Lancelot had taken the field against them.

He hardened his heart, and led the charge. A roar louder than any dragon still alive growing in her throat as his Prana Core grew hot.

One more battle.

XIXI

Sakura woke from her nightmare, rushed into the restroom, and hung her head over the toilet as the threw up. It was over. The relief was almost a physical pain. She didn't have to worry any more about the agonizing pain and violation that was a side effect of learning the Matou family thaumaturgy.

Once the Grail War was over, Shirou wouldn't have any cause to be a sword any more, and she could take care of him.

She could be more than a tool.

She brushed her teeth, and lay back down to sleep across from her sister.

XIXI

Archer looked down at the neat stack of pages he'd ripped out of his notebook, then incinerated them with his Prana. It was no use. Nothing he'd written down made any sense anymore. One page read _'Caster- Medea, fights using long range area bombardment. Will attempt to steal Servants with Rule Breaker." _That just wasn't true, though.

Caster was a large man with dark skin and red hair, not a pointy eared woman with a tiny knife. Caster had far more weapons than that. He didn't know anything about him, and couldn't assume any of the information he'd written down as a guide for himself was accurate on any of the other Servants' counts either. He stood up and stepped off the roof, plummeting to the ground below.

He landed lightly, ten feet was barely a drop at all, and walked to the workshop. It smelled like sawdust, iron shavings, and smokeless powder. Emiya closed the door behind him, then flipped the light switch, illuminating the small room with bright light. He walked to the corner opposite the summoning circle and felt around the floor, running his fingertips along the minute imperfections until her reached a certain position.

He pressed his fingers down, and they sank through the stone like water to a depth of almost half a meter. Half a meter of pure concrete and magically retardant substances.

He felt a small box, and pulled it out. Shirou wouldn't know about this, no matter how many journals he'd read. What was in the case he held in his hand wasn't something that Kiritsugu would ever admit to having. He wouldn't get a sealing designation for what was in the shoe box sized container.

He'd get murdered, and the box would disappear.

When your Magic Crest, your family thaurmaturgy, dealt with time manipulation, altering the flow of reality itself by fractions, you attracted attention from parties of a similar nature.

He hadn't known about this until it had been taken, 'confiscated' by the Association while he was on the other side of the world. They'd knocked down the entire house to find it.

He opened it, and pulled a small, curved, piece of wood from the box. "Trace On." He activated his Structural Analysis, feeling a fraction of its history, absorbing a fraction of the skill its original owners had wielded it with. He fell over, clutching at his head at the weight of eons of memories all babbling frantically before they faded away, subsumed by his ages as a Counter Guardian.

If he'd been a mortal man, that would have shredded his mind. Too much information, instantly transmitted to the brain. It was a good thing he wasn't exactly mortal any more, Archer chuckled to himself as he slipped the item into his sleeve. Now what to do with his time now?

Archer pulled out his notebook again, and turned to a fresh page.

_"Saber wants Shirou deep in her sheath, and she's never going to let him leave now that she's got him in there."  
"Rin, don't you wish Shirou were your sword, instead of a Saber's?"  
"This is what happens when teenage boys hang around with foreign women, they stop using anything but their swords."  
"Saber, I understand the need to properly care for your weapons, but I think you might be spending a little too much time polishing your sword."  
"'Excali Shirouscalibur"  
"So Avalon is a paradise, and Shirou gets to spend large amounts of time embedded in it."_

The list went on for several pages.

XIXI

Shirou dreamed of fire. A monkey walked on its hind legs towards him, a Servant the Grail told him. That was what he was too. He'd been called from his deathbed, Bedivere gazing down at his dying form, but something had gone wrong. He'd appeared in the circle with his summoner before him, but then someone had burst through the wall behind him, ripping off the magus' head with a bestial roar.

He'd been too fast for him to stop, disoriented by the summoning, and he felt his master die in an instant. The monkey reached up to his ear, removing an iron needle he'd set there, and held it between two fingers. "Well, this is going to be wonderful fun!" He said conversationally, as if he hadn't just ambushed and killed the only person keeping Saber alive. "I'm Son Goku/Sun Wukong, Caster class," his name shook with two different pronunciations, "and I hope you can put up a fight."

He held his needle in the air, and it grew to an immense size, dwarfing the room she stood in. She drew Excalibur, and fairy-forged steel met over nine metric tons of black iron in a colossal-

"Shirou! Wake up! There's no food left in the pantry!" The sword-shaped boy was shaken from his dream by a bright light shining on him.

"Ah, I'm up! I'm up!" He groaned, shining dimly as he looked around. Saber was holding him next to a window, and he was in the kitchen. "Just give me a moment. Could you… set me down?" He asked.

"Why should I?" Saber replied, perplexed.

"It's not that I think you're- I just don't think- I don't really know how to phrase this-"

"He doesn't know what part of him you'll end up holding, if he transforms back with your hand wrapped around his hilt." Archer said as he leaned in the suddenly open window. "And I don't think you've known him long enough to do more than hold hands, at this point. Not that holding his foot would be much worse, but I don't think I want to-"

Archer ducked Saber's sudden swing, Excalibur parting the air above his head, then ran from the room, heading towards Rin and Sakura's room.

Saber gently set Excalibur on the table. There was a pop of displaced air, and Shirou was there in its place. He only had on a pair of loose pants and an undershirt, but at least he wasn't naked. Last night, he'd forgotten he'd been bathing when he first transformed.

He hadn't forgotten for long. Luckily, the handprint on his cheek and the egg on his head had healed almost instantly.

He and Saber both blushed at the memory, neither meeting the other's eyes. "I need to change, if I'm going out." Shirou said, and Saber nodded.

The pair walked back to the room they'd slept in the night before, Shirou's room, and he opened the closet. Arturia turned around while he changed. When she turned around, he was wearing a black coat with long sleeves over his normal grey pants and white shirt. "I thought, since I'm in a Grail War, I may as well wear one of dad's armored coats. It's a little off-focus, so it should stop a glancing hit. It's not like magecraft is going to be a secret much longer, with that out there." He gestured towards the barrier around the city and trailed off, waiting for acknowledgement.

Saber nodded her head, once, and said, "We should leave soon. Where is the butcher's?"

"It's not quite like that." Shirou explained as they walked out the door, after telling Archer where they'd be going. "I mean, there is a butcher nearby, but I normally shop at the supermarket. I was thinking that we could stop by the Copenhagen, the bar I work at, first though. Fuyuki isn't normally this quiet, and I want to make sure…"

"Trying to protect your allies and friends is admirable, but do you think you have the time to spare?" Saber asked.

Shirou pointed to the right. "We should. It's just over there, and isn't much out of the way."

"Then let's go. Every second we waste is another second breakfast is delayed." Saber grabbed her master's hand with hers, dragging him along as she set a breakneck pace.

When they reached the small bar, Shirou walked to the door and knocked. "They should be up. Otoko likes to wake up early. She said she'd clear a few days off for me with her dad." The door opened. Shirou turned back to it, "Good morning Neko!"

A familiar tiger-striped sword smashed his head into the ground with an even more familiar cry of, "I'M NOT A TIGER!" Shirou opened his eyes again, and saw his legal guardian standing over him, Tora-Shinai in hand, glowing with unearthly flames that matched the inferno behind her eyes.

"I thought you were Otoko," Shirou protested as he picked himself up, thankful that Saber hadn't decided to 'protect' him. Whatever the barrier had done to the rest of the city, Fujimura Taiga was the same as she'd always been. She sniffed, turning her head up.

"I keep telling you to call me Fuji-nee." She pulled him inside and over to the bar, stopping when he was standing in front of the burner. "Otoko's not feeling too well, so I'm making breakfast."

Shirou took in the splattered egg, diced onion, and cheese decorating the counter. "I noticed."

"…She liked the omelet." Taiga sulked, then she perked up. "So, have you had enough time alone with your ladyfriend? Or should I give you more time alone? To think my Shirou's decided to woo an unpredictable girl like Tohsaka, instead of a nice, loving, caring, person like poor Sakura. You'll break her heart!"

Shirou didn't say anything, but his eyes flashed to Saber in dawning horror. Saber saw his growing panic, and spoke up, trying to draw Fuyuki's Terrible Tiger's attention. "Didn't you just find out Rin and Sakura were sisters last night, master, and shouldn't we be shopping right now? We are out of food."

Taiga took a step back, and Shirou dropped his head to the counter with a thud. Now she'd done it. Taiga'd been obsessing over Sakura, and even if he didn't understand what the big deal was about going unsupervised (he was trustworthy), he knew Taiga wouldn't ever let him forget this.

He was letting another person help him shop for food, and the ferocious Tiger took threats to it's meals seriously. Shopping was something she'd only ever trust to him and Sakura. Outsiders were not tolerated.

Shirou braced himself for the end, screwing his eyes shut and cursing his inability to fight back against his adoptive sister outside the dojo. When the expected blow didn't come, he opened his eyes.

Taiga wasn't looking at either him or Saber. She was staring at the clock. "OHMYGOTTAGOBYESHIROUI'VEGOTTAGETGOING!" The door slammed open, then shut, and Taiga disappeared.

Shirou crossed the room and opened the door that led to the stairs. "Taiga'll be fine, Saber. I don't think anythingcan can kill her." He smiled at her. "I just need to check in on Neko and make sure she's all right. Taiga's... understated things a few times. She should be fine, there's a bounded field around the Copenhagen, to let me know about thieves and things, and keep out minor spirits, and it should keep out this… evil world too.

A few minutes later, Shirou and Saber had closed the door, locking the bar behind them with Shirou's key. "She's just hung over. Apparently this crazy lady came in last night and drank half the alcohol she had behind the counter, and Neko just got carried along."

"So, are we going to get more food?" Saber gave her master a pointed look.

Shirou scratched his head. "It's just around the corner here. Come on." It only took a few seconds of Saber's almost inhumanly quick strides for her to drag Shirou around the corner, then she stopped. She hadn't noticed earlier, since it was still early, but something was wrong.

There weren't any cars in the street, or people in the windows. The mini supermarket on the corner didn't have its lights on, and she couldn't hear the faint rumbling of electric motors that meant the city was alive and well. There was no movement.

Shirou was behind her, following her gaze with his own. They exchanged a look over Saber's shoulder, and Shirou put his hand in hers, then focused on his other shape. His conceptual space bent, Emiya Shirou the human was replaced with Emiya Shirou the Excalibur, and Arturia snatched him out of the air, then wrapped invisible air around him. _"Saber, I can't see through this, can I look through your eyes?" _He asked.

Saber nodded. "You are my master, you do not have to ask to borrow my sight, Emiya Shirou."

"I know, but it just seems like it would be rude, somehow, to do it without asking." Saber felt an intrusion in the back of her mind, the feel of Od not her own sharpening her perceptions by instinct. That was why she saw it as it shifted on the roof of a nearby building.

It was man-sized, but only was man shaped if she looked at she looked at it in passing. A closer inspection revealed that its legs bent the wrong way, that its chest was too large, and its stomach too lean, to belong on any natural organism.

The blood dripping from the skinless skull of his face was a bit of a giveaway too.  
It leered at Saber from its vantage point, a smooth dulcet voice calling down as if to a dear friend. "There you are, my pretty little dandelion!" He stepped off the roof, landing lightly on the ground below and slowly strolling towards Saber. "I tried to find you last night, but I'm afraid a few things got damaged in the transition, so I forgot where your master lived. It's a dreadful shame, simply dreadful, that I'd not seen the beauty of your flower before today. Welcome to Fuyuki city, ms… ?"

"My name is Saber." She coolly replied, face blank in the face of the creature's unwanted solicitations. "I am not new to the area. I do not require a guide." She glared at the monster's outreached hand. "If you touch me, I will feed you your own hand."

The hand stopped its forward motion, falling to its owner's side. The monster slowed, then stopped ten feet away from . It spoke again, voice still thick with implications and suggestions that would have enthralled a being not composed of nearly a hundred percent pure Prana.

Saber ignored him, not even paying attention to what the monster said, until it mentioned a name. "-Matou Shinji, at your service, lady."

Shirou's voice cut through her thoughts,_ That's Sakura's brother!_

Saber looked it- him, over, noting how he had one fang that hung low in his upper jaw, how he had a slight limp, from where a leg had been recently injured, how his eyes didn't match what he said, staring at her and her master with a hateful, burning gaze. Sakura's brother, he would have known what was done to her, correct? Saber's mental voice was hard and unforgiving as Excalibur, which she could feel in her hand, growing warmer and warmer, even without her Prana input.

Shirou had realized exactly what she had, one step behind her.

Invisible Air released from the fairy blade as Saber lowered the tip to her target, knocking him back to scuttle against the pavement with his clawed feet. At least, he would have trouble finding his feet, but the buffet of hurricane-force winds was followed less than a second later by Arturia's charge.

Her shoulder knocked the air from his gut, and his spine broke with a sickening crack of shattered bones. She grabbed his wrists in her hand one after the other, snapping them and tearing off his hands, then she stomped on his knees and ankles. Shinji screamed a wordless scream of pain as his joints were pulverized, until his mouth was clogged by a familiar hand, his hand. Why couldn't he feel his hand? Oh, right, it'd been torn off.

A cold, hard face loomed over him, bright sword raised for the finishing blow.

He wished he had something witty to say.

Excalibur pierced his heart, and Matou Shinji died as he lived.


	6. Chapter 6

Shirou caught up to Saber, who was staring at a small pile of dust on the ground. "What's that?" He asked, after panting to catch his breath.

"It's nothing important. Now." She pushed open the door, "You have the bags?"

"Yes, they're in my bag." Shirou held up a small bag, and began to pull out several other bags from it. They all had a the image of a stylized black cat with overlarge eyes on them. "I picked some up at the Copenhagen."

The rest of the shopping trip went smoothly, though each of them picked up some of the others bags whenever their companion set them down to load more groceries. Saber picked up a side of ribs, Shirou quietly took the bag of milk. Shirou set down the greens to load more rice, and Arturia had another bag in her hands when he turned around. Saber shifted five bags to one hand, then hefted a five gallon container of water casually in one hand. "In case the water went out." She explained. "In a siege you need clean water more than anything else. We may not be lasting out a siege in a fortress, but the water might go out, or a pipe might break in the fighting."

Shirou agreed, closed his eyes, and imagined his trigger. Excalibur slid free of Avalon inside him, and he reinforced his body, lifting his own five gallon container to match his Servant.

Arturia laughed. It was nice, she decided as they walked to the register, to have someone around that she didn't have to be King over, sometimes.

There was no one at the register, but Shirou insisted on leaving money on the counter anyway.

Once outside again, Shirou instinctively checked the sky, but the Sun was hidden behind the uniformly glowing yellow barrier. He shrugged, and walked home, Saber behind him.

By the time they got back, Sakura and Rin were awake. There was a kettle on, and Sakura was sitting nearby, talking with her sister, so apparently she'd noticed they were out of food too. The purple haired girl looked up as Shirou and his Servant walked in together, and her smile faltered for a moment. "Good morning, sempai." She said, and she helped him set the groceries on the counter. "Rin and I are going to go see the barrier up close later on, We should be able to get a better look at its structure where it meets the ground. Would you like to join us?"

"Sure!" Shirou smiled at his friend, glad she'd recovered fully. "Will you come too Saber?"

His Servant nodded confirmation. "It wouldn't be safe for you to go without me."

XIXI

The city was too still. Lights were on, yes, but there weren't any cars in the street, or bicycles. No pedestrians were on the sidewalks, and there weren't any people in the windows of the houses they passed. Rin stayed close to Archer, and Shirou had stepped behind Arturia, with Sakura behind him, glancing over her shoulder. There was nothing there.

The effect of a totally empty city, they decided without actually saying anything, was [i]really creepy.[/i]

"It reached down into the ground." Rin said, after digging down with one of Archer's swords to examine where the barrier met the dirt.

"There's something in it, writing?" Sakura asked, as a line of text scrolled across the barrier's border, then above its previous location, then above that… Overall producing a rippling effect that moved from left to right across the translucent

Rin looked up, resting her weight on the embedded sword. "It looks alphabetical, not like a pictogram, or symbolic language."

Archer stepped up, poking the barrier with a curved black sword. It rippled, sending minute waves across the length. "It doesn't seem like we can break it…" He mused to himself. "Maybe if I break a Phantasm…"

Saber held out her hand, and Shirou let himself become sword-shaped again, trusting she had a reason. She spoke. "There's a man approaching."

Rin turned. "A survivor?"

"No." Saber pointed at the white shape that was growing larger as she spoke. "On the outside of the barrier."

As the white blur grew nearer, it became less blurred, eventually resolving into a short, bearded, European man in white robes. Either robes or a tunic, Shirou decided. He didn't know the difference. The man's hair and beard were white and wavy.

"Can you hear us?" Rin asked, but she took a step back, away from the strange man, at the same time.

He smiled in response, a twisted smile that held little joy, and pulled a wooden stylus out of the folds of his clothes, holding it as if he were going to write on the barrier. He made a stroke, and Prana burned as symbols flew from the tip of his tool.

Rin frowned at the language. "It's ancient Greek," She explained, then turned back to translate. "I'm not very good at it though. It's something about defining a moment- no, a story, as a tragedy."

Archer's eyes widened, and he met the man outside the barrier's gaze. "Counter Guardian Euripides." He whispered in disbelief.

The writing, now a paragraph of curving letters written in glowing blue Prana, on the barrier flashed red, and began to glow brighter and brighter. Archer stepped in front of Rin, knowing that Saber was doing the same with her master, and Traced. "Trace on, Rho Aias!" Seven pink petals unfurled in front of him, prepared to weather the titanic force Alaya could bring to bear. Why? I haven't failed! He closed his eyes, bracing to withstand the backlash caused by a failing bounded field, but…

Nothing happened.

Archer opened his eyes. The attack hadn't gone off. The Counter Guardian's arms were crossed, though, and the barrier seemed to be a little brighter.

"It's moved." Shirou said. "The barrier, it's not in the same place it was, look." He pointed at the sword Rin had used to probe the barrier's edge. It had been nearly flush with the yellow wall, but now there was nearly thirty centimeters of distance between them. It had[i] expanded[/i]. "That can't be good, right?"

"No." Saber was still watching the figure, the Counter Guardian (and how did Archer know it was a Counter Guardian?). He was trying to break in again, but his thaumaturgy was just dissolving nearly as quickly as he wrote it, unweaving itself until nothing remained. "If a Counter Guardian can't break in we won't be able to bring it down with brute force." She said. "Archer. You will tell us how you recognized him as a Counter Guardian later." It wasn't a question.

Rin was scowling at him too, and Archer cringed. This just wasn't fair. Why had he thought trying for a harem would be a good idea? What had he eaten that'd let him think having to deal with Rin and Saber at together for extended periods of time would end any way other than him dead? He needed a distraction!

He couldn't get away. Rin had hold of his hand, nails digging into his palm. Saber was to his right and there was a barrier that absorbed Prana behind him. He could go left, but he could feel Hook that way, and she was getting closer by the second, and he could feel colossal amounts of Prana gathering in the middle of the city, which didn't make any sense, because the only thing that could gather and use Prana of that scale was the Grail vessel, and Sakura was- Oh.

Oh no.

Illyasviel.

"I'd be happy to explain, but I don't think it would be a good idea for us to be in the open when whatever's in the middle of the city finishes what it's doing." Emiya said grimly. "I'll answer all your questions, no evasions, no tricks, but we need to get to cover, right now."

Saber stilled, her Instinct flaring urgently, and Shirou shook his head. "I don't feel so good…" He moaned.

"Shirou, transform!" His Servant snapped out, snatching him out of the air as soon as he did. She turned in circles, backing up until she was standing next to Archer. "What do you sense?"

He shook his head, and materialized his bow. "Nothing good. The Prana buildup just stopped."

Rin nodded from beside him, and moved so that she was between Sakura and the city. "It must have been happening all night, slowly increasing the amount of Prana in the air so we wouldn't notice the change. Like boiling frogs." She held her hand out before her, a sphere of grey magic gathering at her fingertip.

There was a muffled booming sound, and Rin risked a glance backwards. There was a crater fifty meters deep, and twice that wide, arcing out from the edge of the dirty yellow construct, but the wall itself was completely unharmed.

And another fifty centimeters further out.

She turned around just as a woman's agonized scream sounded from the apartment building to their left, only to be cut off as soon as it had begun. Then there was muffled shouting, a thump, and bits of what used to be a person exploded out the fifth story window, landing on the road in front of them in a pitter patter.

A young woman, elegant in a long black coat and fur hat, stepped out of the window and hovered in midair in defiance of gravity. She raised a hand to her pouting lips, and licked the blood off her middle finger. "Hello big brother, do my teeth look right? They were the closest match I could find close by, and… Oh," She covered her mouth and tittered. "I'm rambling. I see you've brought your friends, though. Don't worry." She winked, and hundreds of voices echoed the death scream Rin'd heard only a few moments earlier, joined by hundreds more from the other side of the street.

"I've brought my friends too."

XIXI

It was strange, Illya decided, being so many people. I mean, she thought, I was always me, but I was partly me-as-mother and me-as-founder, because of being Irisviel too, and Justeaze. I'm was just glad we weren't sharing space with Avenger. That would have been terrible. "All the world's evil", he said he was.

And then he got eaten up. No room for another wakened presence in the Grail, not with Master stirring.

Illyasviel finished manifesting, and silver flowed from the kitchenette's drawers, coalescing into a full-length mirror on the wall, so she could see what her body looked like this time. That was one of the fun things about being so many people all at once. There wasn't any reason to look the same, beyond certain themes and limitations.

She couldn't do teeth. So she had to find a pair that fit, and make her body around it.

The homunculus-turned-construct kicked the remains of her teeth's previous owner out of the way as she took herself in. This was definitely one of her better bodies. Her magic circuits matched up to where they'd be on this body, which was good. She didn't want to be inefficient, and having a body where the soul didn't quite fit would only encourage rotting. She had wonderfully proportioned curves, without all that excess fat she'd seen 'attractive' women carrying around, as befitted her status. Her cheekbones were slightly higher than average, but her chin was soft, so she didn't look too severe.

A bit too much like her mother/previous body for her tastes, though.

Her new body- how odd that she could still feel her other self- was of an average height. She decided she preferred being 158 cm tall, she knew how to handle a body that size.

Of course, her teeth's previous user was... larger than her, in the same way a cow as long as a man is tall has more meat on it than the man would, if one was to butcher them both and compare the yields.

Illyaviel gave a ladylike sigh, and picked up the sack of meat that had peeled off her, sneaking one last look in the mirror. She had red eyes, and pale skin, of course, as well as bone-white hair. That was where the meat-sack's bones had gone! She smiled in realization, and analyzer her hair for an instant. Yes, high calcium content.

She threw the waste out the window, and glanced out after it. Yes, big brother was there, and so were two of the girls he went to school with, one of whom was a master, since there were two Servants with them.

Drat. She had blood on her hand from the meat sack, she wasn't ready! Sigh. At least blood tasted good.

XIXI

A time for all things.

All things...

Creatures and constructs poured from the windows behind the white-haired girl, falling to the ground in wave after wave of flesh toned blobs of broken sacks of used-to-be-people, terror still etched on their slack faces as they fell. The ones who'd been on lower floors landed intact, but they were smashed apart by the falling bodies from the rooms above, leaving a sodden mass of ruptured mess on the asphalt.

Shirou wrenched his gaze away, retuning his senses to use only his Servant's sharper gaze, fixating on the one responsible for this. She was just standing there, hanging motionless, uncaring of the hundreds that were still pouring out of the windows like lumpy oatmeal, splattering red for meters in all directions.

The front of the apartment building was covered in blood. The glass doors were stained red and pink and grey.

He couldn't look. He shifted his attention, and saw that Sakura was holding her sister, whispering in her ear. He tuned himself to his Servant's senses again, and heard her. "It's all right, they died quick. It's all right, it's all right. There's nothing left there but bodies." She repeated over and over again. Rin's eyes were closed tight in denial.

He couldn't keep his gaze away for long. The flood was stopping, but the puddle, almost a small pond, was spreading out, and he could see the lumps of the parts that didn't-

It wasn't like the battles he dreamed about, the ranks of soldiers and lords dying on each others blades and struck down by sudden magecraft. There was no struggle for justice here, no glory to be found.

This was butchery, pure and simple.

And he knew, deep down he could feel, that he was not a butcher's blade. He wanted to hurt, he could feel how good it would be to home inside her, inside the monster that would do this, this perversion of Alchemy, this Necromancy! Her chest would be a poor sheath, but he wouldn't mind resting there for a second.

Emiya was still. His red coat fell around his ankles, brushing them as it swayed. He'd stopped moving, but it was still swaying back and forth.

He couldn't move, couldn't breathe. This was Illyasviel? This was who he'd tried to save, once upon a time? He should have known better. She was his father's daughter, and nothing good ever came from the name Emiya.

He reached into a pocket as the windows ran out of bodies to disgorge, but decided against it. He couldn't risk losing it, couldn't run the risk it would break, when he still wasn't sure he needed to use it. He still had options. He materialized his familiar bow instead, holding it before him, with his right hand resting on the string.

Maybe she'd gloat?

She did.

"Ugh. That won't do at all." The girl in the black coat gestured before her imperiously, and the bloody pool rippled, and then rose up, reforming in a mob of bodies, not human, not quite. There were little things wrong, heads missing jaws, fingers that were too long and sharp, legs that weren't long enough. All told, in two seconds almost four hundred mismatched things had been pulled together, is if by invisible strings. None of them had eyes, or faces at all, just blank stretched skin.

"That's better." Illyasviel preened herself for a moment, then frowned. The abandoned jawbones dissolved into puddles of white powder, then drifted up and reformed into knives, held by razor edged fingers. Another flick of her fingers, and shards of white bone erupted from their chests, crawling over their skin until none of their skin could be seen beneath plates of pristine bones. "Now."

She looked at the Servants, her eyes moving between the man in red with a bow, and the woman in blue who carried a bright sword. "I want to see a dance. Who'll go first?"

The man in the red coat seemed to blur, and then a tiger-striped shaft bloomed from her chest, and that was all the warning anyone had.

The bone-forged knights charged as one, and Saber moved to meet them, Excalibur shrieking as Prana-soaked winds roared around her, and Shirou echoed it with an outraged snarl.

Archer nocked another Tora-Shinai, then broke it. The demonic practice sword was powerful, true, but nowhere near powerful enough to do more than give a Grail-tainted Illya pause. So he was shooting more than one of them. Tora-Shinai was a terrible weapon, it could never permanently harm the target in any way, but it had a quality that easily made up for that.

It was hard to block, and nearly impossible for a human to dodge. The sword [i]wanted[/i] to hurt people. Give it a target, and it would curve to strike. Broken, the demon inside it was free to hunger for the blood of the guilty, and it would guide the wooden blade even more than it did before.

Archer released his arrow, the wrapped bamboo shaft leapt from his bow, tiger striped fletching rippling with the burst of Prana around it. A tendril of metal ripped itself out of the building behind her, and moved to catch the arrow, but the missile passed through its defense. The blunt head of the arrow struck Illyasviel in the forehead, snapping her head back and knocking her off the wire mesh platform she'd hidden under her shoes.

She fell to the ground with a dull thud.

All was silent as Illyasviel pulled herself up off the ground and dusted herself off. Archer tried to hold in his mirth, but a glance from Saber told him he hadn't succeeded as well as he thought he had. He opened his mouth for a one-liner, something reassuring and a little risqué, but the white-haired girl beat him too it.

"Kill them all, but bring me the redhead first. He knows where my father is."

The bone clad soldiers advanced. Slowly.

Saber held her ground, Excalibur held before her at guard and her other hand resting on Avalon. They'd advance until they were a little closer, then they'd put on a burst of speed in an attempt to catch them by surprise. It wouldn't work on her, Arturia knew that trick.

Except these constructs were flesh and blood, and Saber was made of more than worldly things. She was gone, halfway through the advancing horde faster than Archer could even see, leaving only a fading blue blur and a whirl of air to stand in her footsteps.

The bone armored puppets fell to pieces as she ran through them, a hollow thundering of collapsing air following her passage and scattering them around her. Then she was at her target. Invisible Air raged around her, its winds merging with Excalibur's as she swung it in an arc.

Illyasviel pulled herself back together, silver threads dragging her bifurcated torso back in one piece, and responded with a backhand slap that Saber ducked under. The Servant blurred again, and Illyasviel coughed the blood out of her lungs as she picked herself off the concrete. "Enough."

A corona of silver Prana appeared around the red-eyed girl, cratering the pavement under her with its force, and only Saber's supernaturally tight grip on her blade stopped the sudden impact from knocking Excalibur from her hand. "Ah!" Shirou yelped, flashing in counterpoint to the shield around his target.

That moment's pause was enough for Illyasviel to pull herself together, and she raised her hands high with a snarl, an orb of magic cradled in her hands. "Rise!" Cables whipped from the ground, lightbulbs shone blindingly for an instant before they shattered, and the falling glass was whipped into whirlwinds. The apartment building behind her collapsed, and stone soldiers carrying spears and bows pulled themselves out of the ruins they were made from in a skirmishing line.

Her hands fell down to point their glowing payload at the Archer that had ruined her entrance, and the orb of Prana disgorged a lance of solid mercury that shattered when it struck the seven petals of Rho Aias, breaking one of the pink layers. A twitch of the fingers and the alchemically produced mercury bubbled to life, rising up in the shape of a scaled beast with four legs and too many heads.

Archer stayed calm, though, and each head was split by arrows made of flaming steel and purging fire. "Gram." Sakura heard him whisper over the clanking sounds of the stone men attacking her sempai's Servant. She had to do something. She had to help him!

Sakura gave her sister one final pat on the back, then let her go and stepped outside the shield Archer had summoned. It was simple, the only real piece of thaumaturgy in the Matou style. If it had a proper name she didn't know it. "Take." She activated her circuits, feeling the phantom pain of the Crest Worms writhing inside her, and extended her Od into the silvery creation that was even now regrowing its heads. "Mine." Her Od reacted with the Prana in the construct, binding it to her in a process not unlike creating a familiar, and she felt a pull towards it, like a thread between the two of them.

She pulled on the thread, and the dragon-thing stopped moving, then turned around. Its heads reached out across the road, biting down on a line of crossbowmen that were in position to fire on her Shirou and his Servant, then flung them through the air, shattering another group of the stone soldiers.

Illyasviel stiffened as she felt the loss. "Why do people always steal what belongs to me!?" She screamed, and in the short silence afterward, she heard a voice.

"Because you're trying to kill us!" Shirou flared again, and Saber took a step back across the remains of broken dolls.

"No I'm not." She scoffed. "I'm just playing. Weren't you listening earlier?" When Saber's expression didn't change, she raised her nose. "That's rude. I just wanted to play a little before I asked you my question. Where's the man who abandoned me for ten years, where's my father, where's Emiya?"

The winds lessened, shattered glass was set neatly back on the ground, and Illyasviel's remaining soldiers walked away into the night. "Well?" She sounded a lot less threatening without the floating, and the magical constructs surrounding her. "Where is he? I know you know, you keep flinching. You!" She pointed at Saber. "You- You were our Servant! But you were a man, no, pretending to be a man."

She furrowed her brow. "I made you do that, didn't I? Where is he? I saw him walk away, he was going to come back, but I couldn't stay conscious with the Grail full, and I don't remember…" A pool of shadows began to fade into existence around her feet, darkening as she talked.

Saber lowered her blade. "Irisviel?"

The woman who looked so much like her former master collapsed to her knees, clutching her head desperately as she babbled. "No no no no no, I'm not! She's me but I'm not her because I'm me and I'm more than her and he said he'd come back for me why didn't he come back didn't he care who kept him who did he care about more than me I'll kill him for leaving me why didn't he come back?"

Arturia dropped her master, and he exerted his Od, shifting form again. "He's dead."

The ground around Illyasviel turned pitch black. And she screamed.

A pillar of shadows so thick they seemed almost solid erupted from beneath the screaming girl, while at the same time her eyes shone like red floodlights. Electrical wires rose from the ground, cracking pavement as they rose into the air, joined by thinner wiring from the ruins of the building around from her, wrapping her in a bubble of twisted yellow and silver metal, muffling her frantic denials, but not blocking them out entirely.

Archer reached out and pulled Sakura back behind him, knocking bits of shrapnel and flying debris away from her and Rin, much the same as Saber was doing with Shirou as she shepherded him away from the epicenter of the chaos.

This wasn't what he'd expected would happen. Something had set Illya off, but he couldn't remember what would do that. He really shouldn't have burned his notebook pages, not all of the notes were wrong, and he couldn't remember everything he'd written before coming here. The vessel of the Lesser Grail was in the middle of some kind of crazy episode, there was still an unknown threat to the safety of humanity, hundreds of people had just been turned into flesh golems in the blink of an eye, and his past self had turned into Excalibur.

And if that wasn't enough, Rin had figured out he was lying about not having all his memories, he didn't know where Gilgamesh was, he could smell a sea breeze, which meant Hook was practically on top of him, and the sky had gone dark!

And he could see the sky.

Behind a glowing barrier.

"Move!" Emiya grabbed Rin and Sakura around their waists and leapt along the barrier, clearing ground frantically to avoid whatever damn fool thing Hook was going to- He heard the impact, and turned to see.

The Jolly Roger crashed into Illyasviel's cocoon and kept going, tearing the protective shell to pieces as it was ground between the formerly flying ship and the street. Everyone watched in stunned silence as the nineteenth century ship sailed through residential Fuyuki city, seemingly unharmed by its sudden descent and landing, leaving the street torn from 480 tons of Pirate Ship.

It didn't stop before it hit the barrier, a burst of light flashed from the impact point and it was gone.

Archer dropped his arms from around his charges and stepped towards the path of devastation, drawing his bow. She was around here somewhere, even if he couldn't feel where she was exactly. He couldn't pinpoint Saber either, but she could take care of herself.

"Ambushes, Hook?" He called as he swept the darkness with his eyes. "That's very bad form, you know." He could do this. He just had to keep his coworker on the defensive, draw her into the open. "It's not very sporting, ambushing someone who can't fight back on even terms."

"I wouldn't say that, given the circumstances." The voice was behind him. Emiya whipped around, "Trace-"

"Uh-uh-uh!" Hook crooned from where she stood, behind Sakura with her hand around Rin's neck. "One more word, one twitch, and I rip her head clean off. You never thought to bargain for [i]her[/i], when me made out deal. Probably didn't think you'd need to." She shifted her right hand slightly, and Rin's mouth opened futily as her face went red. Her hands were frantically wrapped around the Counter Guardian's.

Archer didn't lower his bow.

"I'll do it, you know." She had her hook rooted in the air behind Sakura, and he could see the blood already bleeding from her neck. "I don't know about you, Emiya Shirou, but I do my job."

Hook spun away, red coat whipping behind her as she yanked her hook into the air, holding Sakura up by her shadow. She lowered her hand, forcing Rin onto her knees in front of her, fingers slowly digging deeper into her throat, condensing her trachea slowly and steadily. "You protected one of these two, Emiya Shirou, and it's time you made a choice! Tell me which one of these pretty little ladies houses the Shadow I got sent here to kill, and I'll let the other one go."

Emiya met Rin's eyes, slowly growing glassier, then Sakura's rapidly paling face.

She smiled openly, sincerely. "You know I never lie, so just tell me. No tricks, mind, or I'll kill them both."


End file.
